I have to admit since this is our first year having Number1 in preschool, I was quite nervous about what to do Monday with no preschool. She still only goes 3 days a week, but I typically manage those two days with one “chill at home” day, and one “outside of the house” activity day, and we all stay fairly content. One day off schedule is more than enough to throw an entire week askew.
If I had a day off, personally, I probably would”ve hit the library. But there is no working day off for Stay-at-home moms, huh?
Anyways.
The Library is always a nice, cheap adventure, but given the holiday it wasn”t on the table. Despite my pre-meditated plans to head out, we spent most of the morning in the backyard making mudpies and eating “dirt-salad”. Which tastes pretty much like any other salad, as long as you add Ranch dressing. My only “complaint” with that is by no means will the Little People be content to sit home Tuesday as well.
If you don”t go to a Zoo, Children”s Museum, or Nature Center that often, when something really amazing, like….TurkeyTime! rolls around, you will find yourself in the long “not a member” line, and may even find yourself flinching a little a what you just paid for your family of four to stand close to a turkey in a cage and perhaps make a paper turkey. IF it isn”t too close to nap and/or snack time, and you remembered to bring diapers for that inevitable change in a not-made-for toddlers public restroom floor. Bah!
Before you leave you will notice a sign MEMBERSHIPS! with a price a little over double what you paid to enter today. And today”s entry will be deducted. Well. This is a no-brainer, right? Of course you will come back again. Right? There are six more days on my calendar that preschool is out this year. And the whole summer! Of course you will make up that membership fee!
Will you? Some things I have learned over the course of my memberships that I wanted to pass along to you before you buy. TurkeyTime at the Charlotte Nature Center is Saturday, so I know you will all be faced with this decision soon, very soon.
1. Is the desired venue IN YOUR TOWN? I cannot stress the importance of this. No matter how much you love the zoo and want to take your animal loving toddler as much as you can, if you have to drive 90 minutes plus to get there, you aren”t going to recoop the cost. If you did make the trips, the gas alone would take you under. And those “companion” venues offered with the membership? Study those very, VERY closely before buying. The ones you will most likely go to because they are just a little further than the membership home, are probably not free, more like half off. Never buy.
2. Is the Venue in your town, along with companion venues in your town, that include full entry? Discovery Place and the Nature Museum are like this in Charlotte. We also have Discovery Place Kids, which is affliated, but NOT included in the membership. CHECK carefully that the one you will go to most is the one with the full time entry. And jameshallison casino if the other entries are included? Buy it.
And this one is the most important.
3. Shop the Companion Venues. Most museums, zoos and what-not offer companion guides all over the country, with some free entry, and some reduced entry. We spent a lot of Number1″s first two years in Aquariums, but every time we checked into a membership, the affliated ones were in places we would never visit for any reason but that Aquarium. I”ve had the “zoo” twice, and we skipped last year altogether. A friend approached me about buying a Nature Center pass earlier this year, to an incredible center, but it”s two hours away from us. As much as I want to say we will go there and visit her, and learn! and have fun! I”m no rookie parent. Every Saturday is another soccer game or runny nose why you can”t make it this weekend, but maybe next. I decided to pass. Lucky for me, SHE had done her research.
“It includes Discovery Place and the Nature Museum in Charlotte.”
It does? Half price entry? Nope, full entry. I decided to give it one more go on the memberships and I must admit, in two months we have already covered the fee. The point I am making here about the companion venues is this. We were in one of the companions last week (we haven”t been to the “home” venue, and actually may not ever), and I looked at the Membership rates. What I paid for the membership to the smaller venue, with MORE companion venues at full entry, was $40 LESS than what they were charging here. I-crap-you-not.
IN CONCLUSION (I love to finish with that. It makes me feel like that English paper in 8th grade. If nothing else, you get the points for your opening, body, and concluding paragraphs. Word.)
- Find the venue you actually would like to share with your children at least once a month. The more included in your town, the better and more likely you will go.
- Find a list of ALL the companion venues.
- Before you go to ANY of them, the first time, check the membership rates and companion packages at each one individually.
- ALWAYS buy the one for the lowest price, if it includes the companions you want, even if you will NEVER visit the one where you are actually a member.
Now after all of that, we”re off to spend the morning at Imaginon. TOTALLY FREE and a Library. I can”t win.
For more Cheap adventures, visit me at, and stay thrifty, my friends!
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