The Fun Mom Project

A year or two ago, I was asked by my Relief Society to put together a list of fun things for kids to do during the summertime. The project grew so big that I wanted to share it with other people as well, so I put the information on a website. That project morphed into a now-much-neglected site called Fun To Do.

When I started the project, I had no idea how much fun stuff there is to do in my little corner of the world. I had always thought that I lived in a very boring little community. I was amazed to discover that I could stay busy every day with fun events just in Utah County. If I was willing to take a drive up to Salt Lake, there would just be too many options to choose from.

I started a Calendar of Events for child-friendly activities and was amazed at how happy I became. To explain why, I need to back up a little bit. When I first had kids, I realized that many doors were now closed to me. My oldest child was tempermental as a baby and prone to just start screaming his head off with no warning. We didn't dare take him to restaurants or movies and going to church was an exercise in humility. (Still is.) So we found ourselves suddenly stuck in the house most of the time. My husband was working full-time and in school, so my life suddenly became very dark and boring. I missed the old days when I could drive up to Salt Lake to have an impromptu lunch with Josh or see him off at the airport when he went on business trips. With a cranky baby, you just don't do that kind of thing.

By the time I started FunToDo, the cranky baby was a mischevious, but easier to manage, preschooler and the twins were toddlers. The husband was still commuting to work and in classes. My life still seemed to be filled with a lot of Closed Doors. When I started my Calendar of Events, I suddenly found doors opening! I realized that there are a LOT of fun child-friendly things to do. Maybe they aren't quite as awesome for a grown adult, but they're a lot awesomer than sitting in the house resenting the Closed Doors.

We started getting out. We went to the Springville City Art Days and sat in the shade of huge trees by the Art Museum while watching the parade. I took Joseph down to Springville another time for a little Hot Air Balloon event. It was much smaller than the Freedom Festival one and much more enjoyable because of the small crowd. They threw candy down from the balloons and Joseph was in heaven. Seeing him giggle made me smile.

Then I lost steam. There is SO much information that I got overwhelmed. I'm not a software engineer or a real web guru. I needed a good data management system but had none. I was working with tools that I couldn't customize and couldn't control. I felt like I could never stay on top of everything so it just sort of fizzled out. Now, the only things on the calendar are the recurring items that I set up a year and a half ago. There is still a world of information on the other pages and I recently found my old Halloween page. I'd totally forgotten about it and I wish I had one for every holiday!

A few days ago, I told my husband that I want to revive the project, but I need his help. I thought it might be fun for him to work in a new development environment with a big web project, and it would thrill me to have this site really fine-tuned with a better calendar, good data management and a ratings & review system. If we get it all working and I find a lot of traffic coming to the site, I'll be motivated enough to add some of the bonus features that I've thought about, like a page about local preschools or a listings of classes and lessons available for kids. There is really a lot available that could be brought together in a central location. It could also be a great place for people to advertise piano lessons, cello lessons, etc. etc. And if you knew the headaches I went through trying to find a preschool for my twins, you'd understand my desire to get them all listed in a central location.

A few questions remain: how do I bankroll this little project? The Google Ads on the site net me about 50 cents a week, if it's a good week. I'm at about 15 dollars total now I think. And a project like this could get expensive, hosting the domain, driving to different locations to snag photos or get info, paying admission fees, etc. Granted it would be a lot of fun, but it's not exactly in the budget.

Also, how can I keep my information better organized so I don't get swamped? What information would be best to include? Good search features for the calendar of events so people don't get swamped with information? Regular articles on the main page with information about upcoming events? Contests with rewards for people who attend events? If so, can I find sponsors? If there is money involved at all, do I need to set up a Nonprofit or a Single Owner Business or an LLC? Which would be best? What do I really want from this anyway?

And so the stress begins and I start to feel overwhelmed. I need a good partner to keep me grounded or I need a clear plan of what I want to do. Help! Where do I go from here? How do I keep those doors open instead of closed?