Waiting on Hold

I originally posted this on another of my blogs. I'm re-posting with much addition. Since there's 6 years or so between some of the thoughts, it may not flow... sorry 'bout that. My perspective has changed a bit.

Sometimes it feels like we have put our lives on hold to raise our children.

It seems that we don't have the time or money to do the things that we used to do, or the things that we want to do. I want to go to concerts, and theater, and yes, even live shows at clubs. I want to learn to dance (ballroom, swing, salsa,... belly?), I want to learn to play the guitar and piano, I want to learn to speak Spanish and French and Chinese. I want to go to soccer games, and football games, and basketball- yes, I know those are supposed be family events, but have you seen the cost of tickets for events lately? Maybe someday I will be able to afford to buy tickets for all of us, but by that time the kids will be out of the house. I want to travel, around the country, around the world.

I want to do all of this with my kids. (except the clubs probably. and some concerts.)

Last year we went to the Kanrocksas music fest. 2 days of music, and we camped there. We got the tickets as soon as they went on sale, and paid somewhere between $300-$400 for 2. If my kids had been just a few years older, I would have wanted to take them, but not at that price. But that was a great deal for that fest- the really frustrating thing is that so many activities and entertainment are priced like this! I remember looking at prices for Disney on Ice when my daughter was about 5, and being shocked that they could even call it a family event. It certainly wasn't priced for my family.

I know that there are lots of inexpensive and free things to do as a family. We go biking (cost- about $100 each bike at Wal-Mart, free helmets at helmet fair or fire station if they have an accident), camping (luckily have been able to get a lot of free gear from family, State Park pass is somewhere around $20 for one car), we're fortunate enough to live in a town where there are always lots of artsy things going on. And it's great for spending time together. Well, kind of... at any event where the city is gathering, the kids will find their friends and run off... which is fine. That's what kids do.

I've wanted to find affordable classes to explore new interests that my kids and I could take together. So far, I've not had much success (or any for that matter). I can imagine the challenges of instructing a class with such a range of ages, so I'm not really surprised that I'm not finding any classes, but still a little disappointed.

I KNOW there are really inexpensive ways to travel the U.S. and the world with a family, I personally just don't know what they are. If you do, feel free to leave suggestions in the comments.

Fortunately my daughter is almost old enough to be able to participate in adult-age classes with me.
It's a good thing, too, because I am tired of waiting on hold, and while the music is nice, it's getting a bit repetitive and stale.