Unsure what to do this weekend? Let me plan it for you.

Don't take me too seriously. I can hardly handle navigating my own weekends, and I'd break under the pressure if even one or two readers asked me for help. But I do have an idea, which I found on a fellow writer's blog, Atlanta On the Cheap, just to give credit where credit is due. And it's a web site that any WalletPop reader living in Atlanta should know about.

But I digress. This Saturday is Museum Day, sponsored by Smithsonian Magazine and the esteemed Smithsonian Museum, arguably the greatest museum ever and a must-see anytime you visit Washington, D.C.

When I was a young adult I couldn't wait to leave home and get out on my own. It really wasn't that hard to do -- I made good money as a waitress and cheap places were plentiful. When I went to nursing school in Colorado Springs, tuition was $700 a semester including books and I could make enough in the summer to pay for school. I lived in a nice cabin for $60 a month that included heat and cable. Boy, are those days gone.

College graduates now face thousands of dollars of debt as they pick up their diplomas. Two-thirds (65.7%) of 4-year undergraduate students graduate with an average student loan debt of $19,237. Graduate and professional students borrow even more, with the additional debt for a graduate degree ranging from $27,000 to $114,000. Many graduates see little choice to get out of debt except move back with the folks.

These boomerangers are everywhere. In 2007, 14.5 million children age 18-24 lived at home, up from 6.4 million in 1960, according to U.S. Census figures. Moving back home has become the new normal. So many kids are doing so that there is no longer a stigma.

If you build it, they will come. But not necessarily.

A recent three-part report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reveals that the building spree by Milwaukee Public Schools is a dismal failure.

The $102 million initiative to revamp buildings was supposed to get students into local neighborhood schools and improve education. Instead, newly furnished classrooms are used for storage, and half-empty buildings are sprinkled throughout the district. Many specialty teachers in the fields of science, art and music have been downsized in budget cuts while enrollment has continued to tumble.

Like many urban school districts, Milwaukee Public Schools works with some of the poorest children in the city. Many of the children literally do not have parents. They may be living with a grandparent, uncle, aunt or other relative. At the school where my husband works, more than 20 children are bused to school from a homeless shelter. Even those who are lucky enough to have a biological parent often have only one. At a recent open house at an elementary school of approximately 200 children, only six fathers showed up.

It is clear that what these children need are parents, not just buildings. And if they do not have parents involved in their education, someone else better be available. Instead of facilities and expensive buildings, the money would have been better spent with additional staffing in the classroom, mentors for individual development, and tutors for special help. The $102 million could have purchased a lot of services for these children and their families.

I was strolling through the men's clothing department at Wal-Mart yesterday and realized something: it's not that cheap.

Plain, ugly, Faded Glory jeans were $12.88 and oP polos are $13. Of course that's a lot cheaper than Macy's but it's also pretty poor quality clothing. A lot of families will head to Wal-Mart because it seems like it would be a cheap place to do back to school shopping but the reality is that you can do much, much better. Here are a few ideas:

• TJMaxx and Marshalls: if you limit your kids (and yourself) to the clearance rack, you should be able to find plenty of nice, name brand stuff for less than you'll pay for much lower quality stuff at Wal-Mart. Example: I recently found American Eagle jeans for $10 at TJMaxx. That's less than the Faded Glory ones are at Wal-Mart, even though American Eagle jeans retail in the $40 range.
• Plato's Closet: The absolute best place for teens. With brands like American Eagle and Abercrombie in gently used condition at 80% off mall prices, it's worth a bit of a drive. Bring friends!
• Steve & Barry's: Recently filed for bankruptcy but still operating all of its stores, this chain offers shoes, sweatshirts, jeans, t-shirts, etc all at $8.88! Great place to buy stuff with college logos.

Also, check local thrift shops and consignment shops, if you can talk your kids into it. With stores like TJMaxx and Steve & Barry's, you should be able to do your back to school shopping just as cheap, if not cheaper, than you could at Wal-Mart and you/your kids will look infinitely cooler.

It costs a lot to raise children. That's the common wisdom.

But it really doesn't have to. Of course, you can do it the American way, and surround them with stuff for their edification and safety. Or you can do it another way. Which means spending time with them and eschewing the bells and whistles our culture says will make us happy.

I dunno. There's a lot I didn't do, and my kids have still turned out OK. So far.

Two generations ago most families lived on working farms. All family members participated in the work and had responsibilities. School was designed to give the children the summer off primarily because they were needed on the farm to help with the planting and harvest of crops. Children had responsibilities and a role in the family.

Fast forward to the present. Most families no longer live in the country and in too many homes children have no real work to do. With the advent of TV in the 50's, an amazing change happened to the role of children in this country: their primary role became "a consumer."

This change began gradually with Saturday morning cartoons and cereal commercials. These cereal ads were really the first attempt to market directly to kids. Perhaps you remember them? Cereal with submarines and other toys in the box so the kids beg, cried, and screamed until their parents bought it.

A new study reported in USA Today finds that "kids meals" at chain and fast food restaurants are too high in calories for a single meal. According to the analysis from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, some meals contain more than 1,000 calories, which is the typical daily calorie count per DAY for elementary school children. Considering that the average child, under 18, eats 167 restaurant meals in a year, that is a lot of calories.

This does not surprise me. All you have to do is look around. When I was a kid, we were all skinny. It was unusual to see a heavy-set kid in the class. Now I go to my daughter's swim class and the majority of the kids are overweight. Granted, kids may be sitting more, but I vote that the eating habits are more of the problem.

With gas prices soaring and the economy stagnating, a lot of families are looking to cut the back to school shopping budget this year.

A suggestion if you fall into that category: try Target. The prices are in the same range as Wal-Mart, cheaper on certain items on sale, and the quality is so much better -- essentially comparable to Old Navy or similar lower-end well-known labels.

A quick search through the clearance section of Target's website turns up a great sale on Cherokee-brand corduroys: all boys sizes $7.49, 50% off the retail price of $14.99. Take a look and, if your son is into cords, buy them in both colors:

• Boys' Cherokee® Carpenter Corduroy Pants - Ebony
• Boys' Cherokee® Carpenter Corduroy Pants - Olive

To browse the rest of Target's back to school clothing selection, click here for boys and here for girls.

I distinctly remember how cowed I felt when I visited the house of another family from my birthing class. It was my first child, and the classmates from our birth preparation series were all we could see of our "peers" as new parents. We had one Baby Einstein video. They had the entire Costco-packaged series! How could we ever compete!

Somehow, we managed to compete on the television viewing playing field, but now it turns out our friends' well-meaning "investment" in $100 or so of baby videos may have been a stunningly bad one. Slate reports that baby television and videos? Might cause autism. (Related: we're having behavioral issues with our oldest son that are pretty major.) (Also related: we just cancelled cable two months ago.)

The aha! moment came when researchers (and separately, the Slate reporter) realized that autism rates began increasing at about the same time VCRs and cable television started becoming common in homes. The problem is in the two-dimensional stimuli; too much, and the brain, craving three-dimensional stimuli, goes off on a wrong course.

It was an argument that I lost with my husband when the kids were young and money was tight. The kids aren't so young anymore, but money is still tight...and I still think it was a really good idea.

"How about learning to give the boys haircuts?" Their father -- a carpenter by profession and, well, good with his hands (which I am not) wouldn't consider it.

But if he had (or if I could have risked it) here's how I would have proceeded:

The McLoughlin Brothers created the first coloring book in 1880 (The Little Folks Painting Book), and it was an instant hit. Young children -- and older ones too -- loved the idea of being able to create artwork without the skill and focus required to draw or paint. Coloring books remained popular for another century or more, with the 1960s generally seen as the golden age. They were cheap, easy, required no adult supervision, and incredibly fun. Quick confession: the last time I went to Florida I brought one with me and had more fun than anyone over the age of 12 should ever be allowed to have on an airplane.

But since the 1960s, the coloring book has declined in popularity, and it's seen as passé in many circles. Giving a child coloring books as a gift might be seen as stingy and out of touch. You can get nice ones for $1 each at Wal-Mart. Now things are more complicated. To encourage your child's inner artist, the Madison Avenue geniuses want to sell you a Disney Princess Magic Pictures Magnetic Drawing Activity Set, for $14.99. And it isn't just art of course. Instead of giving a kid a recorder, he'll want Rock Band for Playstation 3 -- $169.99, not including the $300 Playstation. Barbies aren't even good enough either. Now young girls need a Bratz The Movie Party Bus for $48.98, but that's a small price to pay. You do want your daughter to grow up with the moral compass of Paris Hilton, don't you? Meanwhile our national savings rate is negative for the first time since the 1930s and kids are fatter than ever before, families rarely have dinner together, and television viewers are actually having to endure another season of The Mole. Something went wrong.

Of course none of these problems can be fixed quickly, if at all. But as a small sign of protest and a commitment to encouraging creativity and maintaining fiscal sanity, I'm asking you to make the next non-essential item you buy a child under the age of 8 a coloring book.

The Daily Deal for Monday, June 2nd is BooksAMillion's (the other other other online bookstore) sale on children's books. They have a very good selection for $1 each and, if you use the coupon code JNESHPBK, you can order as many (or as few) as you like without paying shipping.

The books have cover prices of $4.99 and titles include Ice Age 2, Shrek the Third, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, and tons of books based on the Bratz dolls (Hint: don't buy those books unless you want your daughter to grow up to be a word I can't write on WalletPop).

View the complete selection here. At this price, these make a fantastic gift. Forward this post on to anyone you know who has young kids!

The Daily Deal for Wednesday, May 21st is a set of 10 kids DVDs for $9.99 -- nearly 90% off the list price of $98. Shipping will set you back nother $5.95 but you can order multiple sets as gifts and combine the shipping. According to the site, the set may include: Cinderella, Return Treasure Island Swiss Family, Gabby and Gullible Friends, Bionic Clown, Little Princess Royal Wedding, Sinbad/Musketeers/Cristo, Brothers Grimm Boots, Return Treasure Island, Phantom of the Doodio,
Oliver/Copperfield, Aladdin/Hunchback/Hercules.

If you're worried about quality, it's worth noting that Gaiam has a pretty good reputation -- it's known for some of the best yoga and fitness related DVDs in the market. So I would say that these DVDs are likely to be of better quality than the dollar-DVDs you find at stores like Wal-Mart.

I can't find reviews for the set online though -- if you own this set, please leave a comment and let us know what you think!

One of the building blocks of personal finance for me came from my early exposure to money management at home through earning an allowance. Deciding what method to use in order to give your children an allowance which both educates them and enables them to buy stuff for themselves can be complicated. The author of Fivecentnickel shares an intriguing method which he uses in his house of four. His system for allowances revolves around allocating the allowance to several locations such as spending, long term saving and charity.

They recently revamped the system moving to distributing the allowance once a month to ease the distribution between purposes and to re-enforce the need to budget to their kids. The allowance system they use bases the weekly amount on how old the kid is. Even though it isn't stated, I am going to assume that with age comes more responsibility. The kids can even get a dollar for dollar match by moving money from spending into their kiddie IRA.

After weeks of VH1's, "I Know My Kid's a Star," a Time story is a reminder that high schools (and middle schools) offer a financially and emotionally viable theater alternative. The Time story is really about the trend toward high schools taking on shows that are "new and edgy;" rather than the old favorites like "Oklahoma," and "Guys and Dolls." I'll get to the "edgy" issue - but the Time story reminds me that there is a much better option to investing significant parental resources into kids' activities.

For too many American families, childhood is now all about lessons. The result is over-scheduled, stressed, competitive, self-conscious kids - and their parental counterparts. Suppose your child has a theatrical flair - many do. Like the VH1 parents, you can opt to drive from acting and improvisation to voice lessons, to portrait studios and auditions, to agents. If you think for a moment that your child doesn't feel pressure to succeed from all that parental investment, (s)he does. It's all about competition.