Who’s the first one your children run to with scraped knees and assorted bumps and bruises? Who does the camp director call when little Susie isn’t feeling well? You’ve got it—you. Summer is the prime season for you as a stay-at-home parent (and first one on the list of emergency contacts) to need these handy tricks and quick fixes for all of yours kids minor complaints. Need to get your sunburned beach babies out of the heat for an afternoon (indoor voices included!)? Try these creative (and free/nearly free!) child activity ideas that will keep your kids learning and playing indoors for a few hours. Learn how to help your woodland wanderers resist the impulse to scratch at poison ivy rashes or mosquito bites.  If you’re worried about sending your active kids outside as the temperature escalates, Catherine Holecko, About.com’s Guide to Family Fitness, has a great blog post on preventing heat stroke in kids and adults alike. And, for the inevitable skinned knee or elbow that results from your child running across a slick pool deck or hurtling from one end of the mulched playground to the other, brush up on your wound-dressing knowhow with a little help from Rod Brouhard, About.com’s Guide to First Aid.

Though the recession continues to plow onward, many entrepreneurial moms are getting a start on business ventures from the comfort—and flexibility—of their own homes.

Stay-at-home mom Julie Trade rakes in a six-figure salary while her two sons, ages 2 and 5, are asleep, CNNmoney.com reports. Trade works 40 hours a week, mostly between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m., plus evenings and weekends. During the day, however, she is a stay-at-home mom, much as she was before her husband was laid off in 2007. After a year of watching her husband struggle to find work, Trade, 40, struck out on her own out of a spare bedroom, intending to make a little extra cash with her marketing know-how. With clients like British Telecom and Argent Software, Trade estimates that she is now making twice what she made when she was working full-time before she became a mom.

While companies like the Atlanta-based Mom Corps are seeing a boom in the number of former stay-at-home moms seeking flexible options to return to work, others (like entrepreneurial effort-backer Tim Draper) say that recessions are the best times to start small businesses.

If your family’s finances need a little boost to make ends meet, or your ready to get back to (or redefine) your career without leaving home, becoming a work-at-home mom might be the right choice for you. About.com’s Guide for Work-At-Home Moms, Laureen Miles Brunelli, has a great list of possible careers for WAHMs to get your juices flowing.

Watch out for WAH scams and learn how to get started as a work-at-home mom.

A family camping trip can be an affordable and fun alternative to the more traditional family vacation this summer. Cooking while camping out can be a bit of a challenge though, so here are some easy recipes that my kids really enjoy when we go camping. They especially enjoy Homemade Ice Cream in a Coffee Can, a tasty dessert that the kids love to make and eat.

Tips for Camping With Your Family

For people who live in warm climates, the cost to run the air conditioning will be one of the largest expenses during the summer months. You can save some money, though, with these tips to help keep your air conditioner costs down.