Saturday, October 29, 2011

Kids Movie Night

I wasn't sure that it was going to happen this week because we have had some major issues with defiance and attitude. But the kids buckled down and got their chores done so that they could enjoy their night of a movie with homemade pizza and popcorn. The kids settled in to watch "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" while I worked on some projects myself and while Hubby was at work. I don't think my children have ever seen this movie before. I had to have them watch it. Just on principle. Although, I did notice a few things in it that I don't allow my kids to say. Koren (who is 8, mind you) gasped and said, "Mom! They said a bad thing! They said the S word!" I rewinded the movie (is that even the correct term when it's on DVR?) and played the scene over again. "See Mom!" he insisted. "They said the S-T-U word!" (Hint: The S-T-U word ends in P-I-D and that is a word we do not allow in our home. Whoops.)

Other than the mishap with some questionable (to our children) language and situations, they LOVED the movie! All four kids sat through the movie and watched it very nicely. I heard some discussion between them about Lucy and Charlie Brown and how she would pull the football away when he was about to kick it. They said that it wasn't nice of Lucy and that she should apologize. They found it funny but realized that the actions were not desirable. I like the way the movie made them think and the discussions they had about them.

Going back to the topic of work, I currently work 3 days a week and Hubby works 2-3 as well. I work 12 hour shifts and Hubby's shifts are 5-8 hours. I found another job that I am tempted to apply for. It is early morning hours (though if I were able to get the job, I would see if I could actually start a full hour earlier) and I would be cleaning a bowling alley. It's an every day of the week kind of deal but I would be done and back before the kids would need to get ready for school or even be awake possibly. Some of the things that I like about the job prospect are the hours and the pay, the fact that I can do it WHILE still working my other job (no issues there!) and I'd be able to be there for the major part of the kids', well, everything. And if Hubby picks up more hours at work, I'd like to cut back at MY work and be able to be home for/with the kids more. Ideally, I would still work my 12 hour shift every Friday and work the morning shift cleaning the bowling alley instead. It's a job where I'd be working on my own. I kind of like that to be perfectly honest. I do have the option to have someone help me out with the work but it couldn't/wouldn't be Hubby because he would need to be home with sleeping kiddos. I have a couple of people in mind. One of them is actually Cephas. He is such an early riser and he can really buckle down and get right to work when he wants to. Of course, I'd compensate him for the work. I just don't know if the company would allow me to have him help me out there. Guess there is only one way to find out.

Cephas and Koren have a lawn job lined up for next weekend already. They need to mow and rake and do general picking up of a postage stamp yard that belongs to my mother. And Grandma is going to pay them more than I think they should get for that job, but I guess until the boys are comfortable setting their own prices, they will take the amount offered them or pass on the job. What should the going rate for a lawn job be? I figured $2.00 per mulched lawn bag. If they are raking and not using the mower, I think it should be around $2.25 per lawn bag. Does that seem reasonable?

For instance, the first job that Cephas had, he made $20 and had 9 bags of leaves. That would have averaged out to about $2.25 per bag. But he was also having to fight against long grass in his attempt to rake the leaves. But had he been able to mulch and use our bag mower and get the grass as well, it probably would have been around 7-8 bags worth. The leaves would have been compacted down quite a bit more than they were but there would have been grass added to it too. Then there is also the gas for the mower to figure in as well. So, for a mulched bag at $2.00, it would have been somewhere in the neighborhood of $15.00, which I think would have been fitting for the job had he been able to use the mower. Just some thoughts I've been having in regards to this. I am hoping that he can get some repeat business soon. He really enjoys the extra work (and the extra money!) and I think it's good for him.

Well, it's time to get some more things done before Hubby comes home so I will post again tomorrow maybe?