Written By: Jeanie Chang
reallynatural.com
That's exactly what I did the other day. Two of my four kids were sick so they stayed home from school which meant I had to forgo all my plans and errands and workout for the day. Sometimes it's nice to just relax at home and take care of house chores, but when you're forced to stay home because of sick kids or whatever else that obligated you to stay home, it can be frustrating because you have no choice. I had a lot of grocery shopping to do, dry cleaning to pick up, new shoes to buy my 3 year old who lost his shoes, etc.
So, I decided to get creative. Well, it's not really creative especially in this day and age. I did all my grocery shopping, shoe shopping from home and then some - yep, you guessed it! I did it all online. Our local Harris Teeter (a grocery store chain here in NC) has online shopping available. As long as you place your order before 11 am, you can pick up your groceries the same afternoon. There's a Harris Teeter on my husband's way home so I just ask him to pick them up and voila! I've completed my grocery shopping for the day. :) It's convenient, saves your time/hassle and if they need to substitute anything on your list, they call you. Great service. You can pay via credit card or check when you pick up your order. The only little catch is it costs an extra $4.95 to order groceries online, but today it was worth it! Took some stress off my shoulders and my family had something to eat for dinner. LOL. During the summer, Harris Teeter had a special where the extra charge was just $1.95! You should definitely check to see if your local grocery store chain offers online shopping. If they do, take advantage of it when the need arises. It does come in handy when you really can't get out of the house.
My 3 year old lost one of his shoes (brand new, I might add) when we went to Great Wolf Lodge so I had to buy him another pair. I'm sure you've heard of Zappos, Piperlime, Endless. They are great websites for shoes! They're not necessarily discount websites, but there's FREE shipping and no tax so you save a little money plus the hassle of going to a shoe store with your kids and taking double the amount of time! Plus, you can receive your shoes the very next day depending on when you order the day before!!! I am all about saving myself extra hassle and headache when I can. (My son's shoes did arrive the very next day.)
My oldest son's library books were due the same day I was stuck in the house and it took me a few minutes to realize that I didn't have to go to the library to return them. I could just renew them online and buy myself three more weeks to return them! Checked that off.
I'm the PTA co-chair of our elementary school's main fundraiser in October and I needed to get a list of all the students' names in each class for the entire school. I was planning on stopping into the school office and asking the data manager to make a copy for me. Instead, I got a little creative since I couldn't leave the house. I emailed her and asked if she could make a copy for me and send it home with one of my kids. It was no problem! The only question she asked was, "which kid?" My daughter came home later that day and handed me the entire student roster for the school just the way I needed it! Checked that off!
Despite the fact I didn't leave the house all day (except to get the mail), I had such a productive day!!! If you're ever in that position where you're stuck at home for any given reason, think creatively. You'll be surprised at what you can accomplish all from home - with the help of the internet, of course!
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