Our family vacation ended last Friday with a fabulous whitewater rafting trip on the Colorado River, and we didn't spend a dime. How? Our son John, founder of Sticker Universe, created signs and banners for Lakota Guides in exchange for rafting and Jeep trips for our family. Worked for me.

Back when our boys were young, if we wanted to add-on or upgrade vacation activities, we'd hold a garage sale before the trip to make extra cash. Or if the cost of something I wanted to purchase exceeded budget boundaries, I'd sell things we no longer needed at a consignment shop. To keep three fast-growing boys outfitted in school uniforms and Sunday blazers, I'd hunt down moms at school or church who had sons a little larger than mine and were willing to sell gently worn, outgrown items at a discount.

Nowadays, frugal moms don't have to set up shop in the driveway, lug stuff to a consignment store or stalk other moms in the parking lot. Thanks to the Internet, they can sell, consign, shop and swap from the comfort of home. In addition to increasing purchasing power and generating extra income for their families, some moms are even forging marketplace frontiers in their jammies.

Years after I quit believing in Santa Claus and cellulite creams, I still clung to belief that living a "balanced" life was possible. In my mind I envisioned a slender, married mother of three who had mastered the time-management system that smoothes every bump, makes every appointment and absorbs surprises like a ShamWow!

Over-commit? Not this mom. She preheats the oven. She starts preparing in August for the holiday pageant in December. Her kids never look disheveled. Their beds are made and their rooms are tidied before breakfast. Their books stay shelved according to the Dewey Decimal System, and her kitchen is spread before her like a NASA control center. Oh, how I longed to be like her.

Then, one day, in the face of overwhelming evidence, I accepted the fact that the mom I dreamed of becoming was a myth. As I let go of my dream, I held on to a few time management principles that had emerged as truth. I've been pondering those principles this week while our family is on vacation in the mountains of Colorado. I realize that little of those truths has changed over the years, though some applications have shifted with the size and age of our family. They continue to point me due north, and I share them here for those searching for a way -- a realistic way -- to manage the minutes of your days.

For years I dreaded sunset on the Fourth of July. You see, after a day of fun and good food with family and friends, when our three boys pulled out their arsenal of fireworks they'd purchased at a roadside stand (are all boys pyromaniacs?) my stress level spiked to the red zone.

Bill said I was over-reacting. He reminded me that fireworks must meet consumer safety standards and promised to make sure the boys followed safety precautions. This never relieved my angst. So I did what I always do when a fun activity is also a potentially harmful activity: I take precautionary measures -- and I pray (a lot). Whether your day includes a cookout, camping, a parade or a day at the lake, here are some good things to know and do to avoid the Emergency Room this weekend.

Last week I confessed that my mood improved and family vacations became a lot more fun when I stopped expecting my husband to read my mind about what needed to happen to get the five of us packed and out the door. Forms and checklists that Bill and I created helped us work together to plan and divvy trip tasks, eliminating much marital strife. (Even this week, years later as we prepare for vacation, we're using the packing checklist we created.)

Shortly after we figured out how to begin our trips on a positive note, I thought, why not do what we can to reach our destination on a positive note instead of secretly wishing we could put the bags in the car and tie our three over-energized boys to the luggage rack? Backseat boredom and disorganization were fodder for fights and frustration, so I began implementing ideas to quell chaos and promote peace. I share a few with you here, along with ideas from other moms who've discovered ways to make family road trips more fun.

Every summer when our boys were young, we loaded them in the car before dawn and took off for our annual family vacation in Colorado. And every summer on departure day I was in a bad mood. Why? Well, for weeks I'd been planning the trip -- researching accommodations, making reservations, gathering and packing the kids' clothing and gear, arranging for the mail to be stopped, dogs to be fed, and plants to be watered, planning en-route snacks and menus, and creating games and activities to occupy the kids during the trip. And what did Bill do? He worked until the last minute, threw his clothes and fishing gear in the car and jumped behind the wheel, ready for a relaxing vacation.

Believe me, I was not a happy camper, which tainted Bill's attitude and spoiled more than a few vacations. And I regret those years. You see, as I began to look at my role in our family from the perspective of a manager, I realized that a good manager -- of a business or a family -- understands the importance of educating team members. I had expected Bill to read my mind, to instinctively know all that preparing for a trip entails and what he could do to help -- and that's just not fair.

Instead of continuing to finger-point and stew over unmet expectations, we carved out time to discuss how we could work more as a team. Together we created planning sheets and checklists, and divvied vacation prep tasks. That year marked the end of our unpleasant vacation routine. In hopes of helping you avoid vacation altercations, I share the guidelines that can make your vacations a lot more fun.

Over the years I've written books and countless articles about keeping kids creatively occupied in the summer. This being the case, people naturally assume that I'm an arts-and-crafts diva -- you know, the kind of mom who saves Styrofoam meat trays and keeps a glue gun in her back pocket. Summer activities for moms like this include projects like building Monticello out of Popsicle sticks and throwing pottery made of dryer lint and white glue.

Believe me, I am not that kind of mom. Not even close. Truth is, when God handed out the craft gene he bypassed me. This presented a challenge when my boys were young because, a) I wanted to raise creative, resourceful kids, which means, b) minimal TV, which means, c) fun activities ready to fill the void, which means either, d) plenty of money for regular trips to Toys "R" Us, or e) an arsenal of low-cost ideas for battling boredom. In my case it was the latter, so I began preparing for war.

June is National Safety Month, Mom. Are your children safe? Although you can't control everything that happens, there are lots of things you can do to prepare your children for emergency and make your home and yard safe for play this summer.

Take this short quiz, and then check your answers to discover what steps you might need to take to protect your children from harm. It may be the most important few minutes you spend today.

Summer months are ripe with opportunity to help your kids grow in important ways and make positive memories that will last a lifetime, but there's also plenty of potential for overspending and aggravation. You can make this your family's best summer ever -- and keep expenses and frustration to a minimum -- but you've got to do your homework.

Think of it like this: Before you begin a trip, you need to determine your destination and create a plan to get there. The same goes for your children's vacation. As the mother of three boys, I learned that three components were key to a successful summer and my own sanity: 1) setting goals for how I wanted each of my sons to develop over the summer; 2) having a plan that moved them toward those goals; and 3), keeping a ready list of boredom-busting (but not budget-busting) ideas on hand. Here are the strategies I used to make this happen.

Theme parks and water parks are gearing up for summer, and the owners (not to mention your kids) are hoping that your family and others don't cut this summer ritual from your entertainment budget. Some parks are offering massive discounts. According to Robert Niles, editor of ThemeParkInsider.com, families can get more for their money in 2009 than ever before. "Universal Orlando is offering free tickets for kids, Disney World is offering free dining for the whole family, and Busch and Sea World parks are offering year-long passes for the price of one-day ticket," says Niles.

Families in other areas can reduce day-at-the-park expenses, as well. For our three boys, a trip to Six Flags or a water park always launched our summers. Though getting a family of five in the gates without draining our bank account was a challenge, planning ahead made it possible. Here's how you can cut costs without cutting out fun.

Spring is here, and you've probably started rooting through the garage for the bicycles and scooters and golf clubs. You've also probably started to wonder where all that stuff came from, those piles of things that no one is using but no one wants to get rid of. Though end-of-school activities may be consuming your mental bandwidth, the time and weather are right for planning a garage sale to raise cash for summer activities and clean out the garage (and the linen closet and the play room and ...). If your kids are old enough, let them share the work and the profit.

Successful garage sale-ing calls for advance planning, so allow two weeks (at least) before your sale date to scour storage areas, sort, price, and tend to administrative details. For minimal frustration and maximum profit, use this step-by-step plan.