5 Ways to Keep Your Kids Busy This Summer
After cross border moving, you’ll be getting settled in your new home, and your kids will be adjusting to the new house and city. After they are out of school for the summer, the first thing they tend to complain about is boredom. Prevent this pre-emptively by planning for activities that will keep your kids occupied.
Set up a small garden for them to tend all summer. Look at www.kidsgardening.org. This National Gardening Association site provides multitudes of ideas for different garden types and layouts. A fun choice might be a butterfly garden. You need an area with six hours of sunlight, colorful flowering plants, and leafy plants that attract egg-laying butterflies and become food for the larvae.
Be an idea-generator for your kids. Set up a “boredom box” that they can choose 1-2 ideas from each day. Include ideas such as making sidewalk chalk art, creating a scavenger hunt, and playing dress-up. If they don’t like what is in the boredom box, they aren’t allowed to complain anymore about being bored.
Every kid needs to try a lemonade stand. Teach your kids how to have a really good one. Have it at the same time as your or a neighbor’s garage sale to increase traffic. Give each child a job; money-keeper, lemonade-mixer, sign-maker. Try to sneak in a little math as they add up their profits and subtract their expenses.
Help your kids out by setting up play dates. This is really a babysitting swap service with your friends, but will seem to the kids like a special day out. And do try to make it special. Make ice cream or go to the neighborhood pool. Choose something they can all do together despite any age differences.
You might want to invest in a museum membership. Do you have a history museum or children’s museum? Members often get special access to activities, and you can go anytime you want. Give the kids disposable cameras and make a game out of finding a list of items you create and photographing them.
With these ideas, your kids will forget their cross border moving experience, and will be excited about the summer ahead.
(Photo attributed to Flickr member @sfajane via the creative common license)
Three Educational Resources to Take Advantage of When Moving to the United States
Although it’s usually an incredibly rewarding experience, Moving to the U.S. can also be an arduous process. One thing you can do to get yourself adjusted to the cultural changes and perhaps speed up the citizenship process is research educational institutions that cater to working immigrants. Here are three educational resources that can point you in the right direction.
Literacy Information and Communication System
The Literacy Information and Communication System (LINCS) website can direct you to a useful tool known as America’s Literacy Directory, which allows you to type in your location and helps you determine where to sign up for necessary classes. The directory offers results that can help you read and write, study for the GED program, obtain citizenship education or learn English as a second language.
The University of Texas at Dallas
If your primary reason for moving to the U.S. is receiving a college degree, you should consider speeding up the process by applying to the University of Texas at Dallas. This school offers a wide variety of degrees, and it’s located in a city that has some lenient immigration policies. According to The Dallas Morning News, the state of Texas spent $33.6 million for in-state and institutional financial aid to immigrant students, legal or illegal, between 2004 and 2008.
Driver’s Education
Even though you likely know how to operate a motor vehicle, you must become familiar with the local state traffic laws and basic traffic patterns because these are almost always different in every country. You can refer to the Driver’s Ed website to take all the coursework online and prepare yourself for the driving test at your nearest DMV facility. Once these steps are taken, it might be much easier for you to commute on your own time and find suitable employment.
5 Steps Towards Easy Spring Cleaning
Moving to the U.S. is a large undertaking, and organizing a new home is an equally large task. If you have been settled for several seasons, it may be time to think about spring cleaning. Here are five easy steps to get you started:
1. Start off with a thorough de-cluttering. Look at all the surfaces and make tough decisions about what really needs to be there. Go through the linen closet, the hall closet, and other places where junk hides. Think about donating items you no longer use.
2. Start at the top. Take a broom and stick a sock on the handle. Go room to room dusting corners and taking down cobwebs. Use the brush attachment of your vacuum cleaner to suck up dust on heating vents, draperies, and windowsills. Work your way down the walls, over the furniture, and to the floors and baseboards.
3. Now is the time to actually move the sofa, beds, and other heavy furniture. Pull items from their place and vacuum the floor. Wipe the baseboards behind beds and sofas.
4. You have two options, doing one room at a time, or doing the same task in all the rooms, task after task. The benefit to the latter is that you will have the tools out that you need. Also, you will be focused on washing rugs, dusting plants, etc., and things might go more quickly.
5. Engage the whole family. Assign someone to the garage, shed, and yard. Have them also start with de-cluttering and donating unused items. This person might also be willing to wash the outside of the windows.
After moving to the U.S., spring cleaning will seem like small potatoes. Make a plan and attack your dust bunnies with gusto.
(Photo attribute to Flickr member @nimbupan via the creative common license)
Living in the U.S.: Top Spring Traditions
When moving to the U.S. in the spring, you will see the flowers blooming and people starting to get outside and enjoy the weather. You’ll want to be aware of the springtime traditions most Americans have. Here is a brief list:
Easter is more than a religious holiday for most of the children who expect the Easter bunny to bring them a basket full of goodies. Participate by buying some plastic eggs, filling them with jelly beans, and hiding them in the grass for small children to find. Or make genuine colored eggs with dyes that can be found at any grocery store.
Spring cleaning may not seem like a fun tradition, but it is certainly something most people do each spring. This is the time to actually move the furniture and vacuum under it, wash the baseboards, and wash the windows. You can assign children to clean out their own closets, and the man in your life to tackle the garage.
Opening day is special to baseball fans who have waited all winter for that first crack of the bat. Often you have to dress warmly for this day in the middle of April, but it is worth seeing the excitement on everyone’s faces. Get your first hot dog of the season, and buy a new t-shirt for your new favorite ball team.
The first barbeque is special because it signifies that warm weather is here and it’s time to get out the grill. Hopefully you cleaned it before the end of last season, but if not, be sure to scrub the grate before grilling. Invite some neighbors over when the day looks to be sunny and warm, and pass lemonades all around.
St. Patrick’s Day is a day of celebration for the Irish Americans as well as anyone who loves a beer and a parade. Most communities have a St. Patty’s Day Parade for the family, and most bars have specials, if you can even get a seat! Don’t forget to wear green that day, or you may get pinched.
These fun spring traditions get everyone smiling after a long winter. After moving to the U.S. hopefully you will feel like getting into the spirit and joining in.
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(Photo attributed to Flickr member @adactio via the creative common license)
Moving to the U.S.: Life in New York City
When cross border moving to the United States you’ll have things to adjust to. But if you are not from a big city, moving into New York City might be the biggest adjustment of your life! New York City is in the American imagination as tall buildings, Broadway, Manhattan, people and more people, and called the city that never sleeps.
New York is a walking city. You rarely know people who own a car, because where would you park it? Also, the subway is a lifeline to everything – so pack your walking shoes.
This city is known for having so much to do, see, and eat that you could fill a life with trying everything out. There is every type of cuisine imaginable, and delis and bodegas on every corner. Pizza by the slice is the popular choice for food on the run.
Everything in NYC costs more. The cost of living is very high, including the cost for rent. It is said that finding the perfect apartment in the perfect neighborhood is an art, for the patient and persistent.
You can’t forget the museums. There are piles of art museums, history museums, children’s museums and science museums. Buy a membership and enjoy the ones closest to you.
Pick up the Village Voice publication for information on movies, music, restaurants, and all there is to do and see once you are settled. Buy a Zagat book and hit the best-reviewed places. Try NY.com for an inexhaustible amount of advice on living in the Big Apple.
And a word to those moving to the U.S. and especially NYC, choose your side, Yankees or Mets, and stick to it.
(Photo attributed to flickr member @rakkhi via the creative common license)
Moving in the Winter: Things Not to Forget About Moving This Season
Moving at any time of year is often a challenging endeavor. When moving to the U.S. during the winter season, there are several things to remember to make your move go smoothly and safely.
1. Pack snow shovels and salt near the back of the moving truck, in case ice and snow are in front of your new home. Arrive early to allow for time to shovel snow and lay down salt. Make sure you have a clear path from the back of the truck to the entrance so everyone has solid footing while carrying heavy objects.
2. Check up on the weather before you set out driving. Winter weather can change quickly, and you might want to adjust your departure time depending on inclement conditions. Pack an emergency kit in your car just in case. This can include a blanket, water, some non-perishable food, a flashlight, a folding shovel, and traction material such as kitty litter.
3. Cover floors and carpets to avoid tracking in snow. Try to cover all areas where movers will be walking with a material that will not easily bunch up, such as cardboard.
4. Dress in layers. Whenever traveling in the winter, it is wise to dress properly in case you are forced to get out of the car. Wear sensible, waterproof shoes, and light, loose layers of clothing.
Cross border moving in the winter can be done, with a little extra preparation and thinking ahead. Follow these tips for a safe and warm move.
(Photo attributed to flickr member @ebmorse via the creative common license)
Moving to the U.S.: 5 Winter Events You Must See to Believe
Snow Sculpture
When moving to the U.S. in the winter, you will find that Americans like to celebrate no matter what the season. But the winter/holiday season is especially festive. Experience Americana at the holidays by attending these festive events.
Visit the International Show Sculpture Championships in Breckenridge, Colorado. The event takes place at the end of January, where blocks of snow 12 feet tall and wide are cut out of the mountain and placed in the village for a snow sculptor to sculpt. These amazing sculptures evolve over three days’ time, with a fantastic display of artistry at the end.
Attend the National Christmas Tree Lighting and Pageant of Peace. For 85 years now, a 40-foot Colorado blue spruce has been erected on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. The Pageant of Peace includes a lighting of the tree and live performances.
Idaho boasts one of the best holiday light shows in the country. The Coeur d”Alene Resort features over 225 holiday displays plus a “Journey to the North Pole” area where children can visit Santa. More than a million lights shine on Lake Coeur d’Alene. You can take a cruise boat to get up close to the animated light displays.
See 500 beautifully decorated trees, wreaths, and gingerbread houses at the Festival of Trees in Timonium, Maryland starting in November. You can shop for holiday crafts at over 100 craft boutiques; see live entertainment, and a have chance to see Santa.
Visit the Niagra Falls Winter Festival of Lights for a once-a-year light show around the falls. There is a 5-km route of over 100 lighted displays, fireworks over the falls, and musical concerts and children’s performances. All the light shows are free of charge.
After cross border moving, make time to see some of the sights in the U.S. These winter festivities will take you to interesting places where you will be immersed in the American culture of the holiday season.
(Photo attributed to flickr member @tacoekkel via the creative common license)
