When schools out, what do working moms do with their kids?

This will be my first summer where I need to figure out what I am going to do with my two daughters ages 7 and 8, during the summer while I am working. I have been a stay- at- home mom since my girls were born, but recently I started back working part time. I haven’t had to worry about them while they’ve been in school, but in just a few weeks they will be out of school and I will have to find someone to watch them or a camp to put them in.

As I started thinking about my situation for the summer, I thought about the moms that are out there that work full time. I can only imagine how hard it must be to have all the responsibilities of being a mom and working full time. I am having trouble with working just part time and trying to fit everything in I do as a mom. I am very fortunate that I have a boss that allows me to work around my kids schedule and I can work from home part of the time. I also have lots of family in town to help me with my kids if I get in a bind and need them to pick them up from school or watch them for a few hours. I know that isn’t what most working moms have, so I am grateful for all the support.

As a mom, at least for me, I want to be with my kids and be involved in what they are doing. I have had to miss a few things at school this year because of work. My kids understand, but I did have them tell me, “You use to go to this event and I miss you when you aren’t there.” It breaks my heart when they say that, but I know they will get over it. I am there when the big events happen like chorus concerts and awards ceremonies. I hope I can continue to be there for those types of events. My kids are my priority, but as we all know we must have money to pay the bills. I feel for the moms out there that can’t make it to their kids school events or other activities. I know most moms want to be there, but not every boss or every job has the flexibility to be able to do it.  I really don’t know how single parents do it. It must be so hard.

So what do parents do with their children during the summer while we are working? I found the best option for most is summer camps.  The nice thing is there are so many camps out there to choose from. Camps are usually not too expensive and are usually less than hiring a babysitter. For me safety is the most important part of any camp and knowing who is facilitating the camps. I am not going to allow my kids to go with just anyone. Once again, I am very fortunate that my sister has a studio locally called Korisma School of Personal Charm and has camps that my kids can go to. The only problem is her camps aren’t every week throughout the summer. The camps are one week a month, so I have to find something the other three weeks of the month. One of the weeks they will do Vacation Bible School at our church. I usually try and help out with it, but this year I won’t be able to volunteer because of work. Still, the kids can still go to that camp for a week. Our church also offers another weeklong camp for Cheerleading, so my kids may go to that.

As for the other weeks, I will probably have to hire a babysitter or see if my parents can help out. The whole idea of working is so you make money and aren’t spending it all on someone else watching your kids while you work. Like most of you I’m sure I’ll figure it out before the summer begins.

Check out the different options for camps- with themes including: martial arts, sports, science, art, drama, music, dance - to find the best fit for your family. Most churches offer vacation Bible school during the summer too. Some are free and others cost a nominal fee.

The following local camps are my favorites! I have either participated in these organizations' camps as a little girl or my kids enjoyed them.

-Korisma School of Personal Charm teaches poise and etiquette, confidence building and acting. Call 394-7827. 

-Ruth Eckerd Hall offers summer programming in arts, drama, music and dance. Call 712-2706.

-St. Pete College, College for kids emphasizes science, art and math. Call 341-3000.

-Bowling camps are offered at Seminole Lanes (Call 392-2271) and Sunrise Lanes (Call 522-2174).

-Seminole Lake Country Club Tennis offers sports, tennis, golf, swimming, bowling and fitness camps. Call 394-1733

-Faith Presbyterian Church offers several sports camps including basketball, cheerleading, flag football and soccer. Call 391-0596

This mom finds her purpose in life after having open heart surgery

As we are in the month of February and heart health month, I think about a mom, who didn’t know if she would ever be able to be a mom because of a heart condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW). It is an abnormal extra electrical pathway of the heart. In other words, her heart had two paths that it could go on. One was the normal path and the other could go over 200 beats a minute.

This mom is my sister Kori Hendricks Ralston. She was born with this very rare disease. Between .1% and .3% of US population is affected by WPW.

When she was two weeks old her heart was beating fast. My mom knew something was wrong and took her to the doctor. Luckily she did, because they diagnosed her and with medicine were able to control it. That was until she was about 14 years old. As she got older the medicines didn’t seem to work. It was very frustrating to my sister because when her heart would go really fast for awhile, she would get exhausted. She played sports during her teenage years. She was a state champion in gymnastics and played high school basketball. We found out later from doctors that at any time she could have died from heart failure. Because of her condition she also wasn’t insurable. She had regular checkups, but I remember her basketball coach telling my parents he didn’t want her to play basketball until she saw her heart doctor again. He was worried something could happen. My parents took her to the doctor and the doctor said a new procedure came out and they could do open heart surgery on her to fix the problem. They would have to fly her to the children’s hospital in Houston, Texas. Within a week they flew up to Texas and had the surgery. My sister’s heart was fixed. The problem now was she had undergone a major surgery and had a long recovery. She was very weak. She had a scar on her chest that wasn’t pretty. She wasn’t able to go to school. She had to be home schooled. She couldn’t get dressed by herself, my mom had to help her. She couldn’t do a lot of things she was use to doing and became very depressed. At one point, she wanted to die. Her self-esteem was gone.

I tell you this because now years later she is helping kids with their self-esteem. She is a middle school chorus teacher and before that owned her own company Korisma, School of Personal Charm. She can relate to them. She knows what it is like to be so low and have such low self-esteem that you don’t really care about anything. My sister with the help of my parents and our family got out of her slump and got her self-esteem back. It took awhile, but after 6 months she was able to go back to school. She became a varsity cheerleader her senior year of high school. She was involved in sports again and the drama club. She enjoyed competing in the Miss America Pageants and became Miss Seminole 1992, Miss Tampa 1994, Miss Lakeland 1995 and Miss Clearwater 1996.  After she married she won Mrs. Florida in 2004. She also traveled the state of Florida as the State Ambassador for the America Heart Association.

She uses what was once a negative in her life and teaches kids you can make changes in your life and have positive self-esteem. The impact she has made on her students throughout the years has made such a difference in the kids’ lives. She’s not only become a role model and an inspiration for kids, but to me as well.

The best thing is she was able to have kids. She actually was one of the first to have kids after having open heart surgery to correct WPW. She has a son Mak, who is 18 and a daughter Star, who is 14. My sister was always worried she would pass WPW down to her kids because it is hereditary, but neither of her children have it. The ironic thing is my dad’s mom had WPW, but doctors back than didn’t actually know what it was and she died at the age 40 on my dad’s 18^th birthday.

But it was on my dad’s 40^th birthday that my sister came home from the hospital from her heart surgery. Because of the technology today and the increased awareness of heart disease my sister was able to be cured of this condition and is now insurable.

And for that, and all the advances in heart medicine to come, I am grateful that we recognize American Heart Month.

How to get kids into Modeling and Acting: Workshop for Parents

Have you ever thought about getting your kids into modeling and acting? If you have and don't know much about the industry you should attend this wonderful workshop for parents in Seminole on Saturday, July 14, 2012. 

It is presented by former Mrs. Florida, Kori Hendricks. She recently opened up a studio in Seminole teaching kids modeling and acting. It is called Korisma, School of Personal Charm. 

The school is more than modeling and acting. It teaches kids about self-esteem, confidence and success, something all parents want for their kids and what all kids need.

The workshop is free for parents that have their kids enrolled in the classes. If your child isn't enrolled it is only $10. (You won't find this price anywhere!)

There are so many scams out there that you really need to be aware. I know, I have seen them.

If you are interested call Kori at her studio Korisma at 727-504-6440. You can also visit her web site Korisma. You can also email her at korihendricks@gmail.com

Parent Industry Workshop: ($10 non-enrolled/FREE current students)

Saturday, July 14 ~ 10:00am-12:00pm
9933 Seminole Blvd., Seminole, Florida.

• Learn about the Modeling & Acting Industry
• Find out how to be prepared for auditions
• Get a local agent list