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Not just temperatures rising in summertime
(by Christine Thome - July 15, 2009)
BEYOND MY CONTROL, BY CHRISTINE THOME
Not just temperatures rising in summertime
As I made summer plans for my family earlier in the year, I was determined that this would be the "slow-down dummer." I minimized the number of camps my kids would attend, I didn't schedule any family vacations, and I was bound and determined to squeeze a few more family dinners into each week.
With a daughter going to college in just another year, I realized our time together as a family is now very limited. But maybe more importantly, with a daughter going to college in just another year, our finances are now extremely limited.
This was going to be the summer to slow down, enjoy each other's company and save some money. But as John Lennon once said, "Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans."
As I sat down to pay our monthly bills last month, I was horrified to see that, instead of our bills decreasing, even slightly, they had skyrocketed.
The first bill I opened was the electric bill, and it was almost twice as high as it had been the previous month.
"How could this be?" I wondered. Then I got up from the table and took a short tour through the house. At least three televisions were on, two computers were in constant use, game stations were being played, the washer and dryer were spinning, music blared from every bedroom, and every light in the house was on, even though it was a bright sunny day.
"Turn something off now! Anything!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I shook the electric bill in my hand. "What is the matter with you kids? Do you think I own the electric company?"
I had officially become my father.
As I sat back down to my checkbook and calculator, I reviewed our grocery budget and realized that not even the U.S. government has enough bailout dollars left to cover our food bill. I had absolutely no idea that four teenagers and their friends could eat so much.
"Back again, Mrs. Thome?" the cashiers will say to me when I appear in their checkout lines for the second or third time in the day.
"They're still hungry," I reply with a look of terror on my face.
Every time my children tell me they are hungry and there's nothing to eat in the house, I'm reminded of the man-eating plant, Audrey II, from the movie and play "Little Shop of Horrors." Like Audrey II, my children keep growing bigger and bigger and keep bellowing, "Feed me!" There are four of them and only one of me. I'm afraid of what may happen if I don't keep the food coming.
As I continued to go through our bills, I began to understand that it might have been cheaper to take the entire family on a six-week, all-inclusive vacation to Europe than to stay home. At least during the school year, the kids are out of the house and out of my refrigerator for at least 10 hours a day, and the electricity runs at a minimum for most of that time. I now see there is a direct correlation between the amount of time children spend at home and the cost of living.
But we're together, I reminded myself. After all, what is summer all about?
Then I looked at the cell-phone bill. The price was the same, because we got smart after the very first bill and instituted unlimited texting, but what had changed drastically was the weight of the bill. I took a little comfort in noting that AT&T had to pay more in postage to mail our bill.
As I looked through the bill, I realized that my daughter was texting like never before and at ungodly hours.
"Who are you texting at 1 a.m.?" I demanded.
"Just my friends, Mom," she replied.
"Why so late at night?" I asked. "Why not just call them in the morning?"
"Because nobody is up in the morning, Mom. It's summertime," she replied as though I had just asked her what color the sky is.
Spend, shriek and sleep -- I guess that's what summer is all about.
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