By Tina
One thing I love about the stage we are in right now with Sean is that it doesn’t take a whole lot to thrill him. He has a lot of imagination and loves to pretend. I know that this time is golden and that one of these days he will be begging for expensive mind-numbing toys like Play Stations and X-Boxes (whatever those are) and being the cheapskate that I am, I’m not really looking forward to that.
Right now, if you ask Sean what he wants to do he will shout with enthusiasm “PetCo!” We go to PetCo (or PetSmart, we’re not that loyal) about four times a week. I call it the poor man’s zoo. We make several laps around the store looking at the dogs playing in doggy day care or getting groomed, the cats waiting for adoption and then on to the birds, fish, hamsters, snakes and mice. Our local PetSmart even has a tack shop, so sometimes I let him sit on the saddles or try on riding caps. He also enjoys standing on the pet scale and getting weighed. I don't enjoy that so much myself.
Other free fun venues include the fish tanks at Wal-Mart and the Home Depot lawn and garden department, where he likes to sit on the riding lawn mowers. And of course the most free fun you can have is at the local Fire Station. Shoe warehouses provide nice long aisles to run up and down and little seats with mirrors that are fun to stand on or jump from. I used to let him try on shoes, but his excessive interest in green sequined tennis shoes was a little troubling to me. My mind’s eye kept flashing on Richard Simmons.
When we were stuck in the house this past winter, I brought the ladder into the house and let him climb up and down it about 1000 times and bang on it to his hearts content with his toy tools. However, hands down, few things are as cheap or fun as a bottle of bubbles. I buy them by the case so that we might never be without them. But we are also happy with just a stick.
Cheap and easily amused are we here at the House of Antique.
What are your favorite cheap thrills?
Tina is a mid-40’s mom to an only child, two-year-old Sean who can easily outwit, outsmart and outplay me on any given day.
Our cheap thrills lately have been a lint roller and a roll of scotch tape. I'm astonished at how much time my son has spent rubbing the lint roller on various household items.
Posted by: Velma | July 19, 2006 at 10:25 PM
Next time you're in Home Depot, check out the door bells. Tons of them w/ lots of differents sounds, and even some songs!
Posted by: Jody | July 08, 2006 at 01:38 PM
During the summer there are tons of "music in the park" type events in our area--all free, some at lunch time some at dinner. We take food & picnic. Same with outdoor movie theaters (not always free, but cheap). We also love to go to starbucks w/a good patio & just people watch.
Several of the small zoos around here have discount days.
But most fun of all parks w/water features (or the public fountains that are actually for playing in--gotta love public art!) And if that fails you can't beat running the sprinkler.
Posted by: mama speak | July 07, 2006 at 05:07 AM
We're into plant life here, in addition to the usual plasticware under the cabinet, empty box mainstays. My daughter fills her (and our) pockets with leaves, flowers, and sticks - especially sticks - every time she sets foot outdoors. Also anything that can stand upright like a person. Imagine long drawn out conversations about going potty, etc. between coffee stirs, sticks, wooden spoons. And we have a fetish for hair in this house. Hair in this case can refer to the tassle on a bookmark. What I wouldn't give to recapture the imagination and contentment of a two year old....
Posted by: Shannon | July 06, 2006 at 10:50 PM
pet stores are great---there is a cool, family owned one right by our house we like to check out. Storytime at the library, parks, hiking, long and slow walks around the block....
Posted by: Sarah | July 06, 2006 at 09:33 PM
Krispy Kreme is one of my kids' favorite cheap thrills... They love to watch the donuts go under the "shower of glaze." (Of course, we do end up buying one or two, but that's still pretty cheap.)
We also love the Dollar Store. Endless fun at almost no cost. Library. Playgrounds. Lately they've been asking to ride the city bus, which we'll probably do sometime soon.
And yes, I agree with the poster above about Sam's. I know a whole lot of adults who enjoy the cheap thrill of their free samples. ;-)
Posted by: Suzanne | July 06, 2006 at 02:20 PM
Dude i am all for the free fun, and Cheap thrills, in st louis there are tons...
Grants farm,
history museum,
city musem at certian times
the zoo and science center,
Mall paygrounds,
Local parks,
there are free concerts all the time in st louis,
Purina farms,
family sundays at the art museum,
Museum of transportation
low cost - butterfly house
lowcost- carosel near the butterfly park
low cost - magic house
low cost - toy museum
Posted by: raquita | July 06, 2006 at 11:59 AM
Now that the kids are older, our cheap thrills are more of the board game variety. We love to play Sorry, Uno, Connect Four, etc. You do have to pay for them up front, but they last for so many years to come.
But for absolutely free, we like to go to the Arboretum and picnic/walk til we drop.
Posted by: Shalee | July 06, 2006 at 11:43 AM
I have a 2 and a half year old, and she loves going to Sam's Club. The isles are super big for her to run up and down in and she loves crawling up in all the chairs and furniture there. We've been doing the pet store thing for over a year now, she loves it. She frequently asks to go to Walmart. We also go to the mall just for the little play area they have and for some reason she loves big empty rooms to run in, so we have been known to look at a lot of homes whenever we are about to move so she can have fun.
Posted by: Charli | July 06, 2006 at 10:56 AM