07.17.07

Worst-case scenarios

Posted in Mom Tips at 8:54 am by Cristina

In my free time, which I admit there isn’t much of, I hang out on a site called Maya’s Mom. It’s a great social networking community of moms and dads talking about everything and anything. The only thing we all have in common with each other is kids.

Recently an online friend posted a question asking who in the group had a will, and if so, did they do it themselves or hire a lawyer to do it?  I was shocked with the amount of parents out there with no will, no trust, no nothin’ about what would happen to their children if both parents were to die.

In our consulting life, Jennifer and I have worked with lots and lots of lawyers.  Because of that, we’ve heard countless stories, especially from the estate and trust ones, of parents (or people in general) who passed away without good documentation on what was to be given to whom, and who was to take care of what.

So I can’t stress enough - if you haven’t done it already - get a will done.  Make sure you appoint an executor of your estate. Figure out who you would want to raise your kids in the unlikely event that neither you or your partner will be there to do it yourself.  Lawyers ask all kinds of probing questions - they give you every worst-case scenario you never wanted to think of.

That being said, I also highly recommend having an attorney draw up the documents.  Like most other things, you get what you pay for.  Free internet templates or programs you can buy off the shelf at OfficeMax are probably okay if you’re single and have nothing to leave behind.  Add children to the mix and you really should hire an attorney to help you.

So get going!

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06.18.07

Yikes! Thomas the Train Recall!

Posted in Uncategorized, Mom Tips, Product Recalls at 9:18 pm by Jennifer

MomsRising.org sent out an email on June 13th alerting as many moms as possible about a recent recall. See below for more information:

Toxic lead in a popular line of children’s toys. It’s a scary thing. Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends toys are now the subject of a major recall by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The CPSC advises consumers to immediately stop using these toys. Here’s the link to their recall notice so you can find out exactly which toys are trouble:

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07212.html#
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07212.html

*Pass this information along to friends with kids so they can make sure their kids don’t have these toys, or put them in their mouths! Sadly, more and more imported toys are being recalled due to toxics. So after you tell your friends about the Thomas recall, then please take action to stop this toxic trend by signing our petition (the link is below).

TELL CONGRESS & THE CPSC TO GET THE LEAD OUT: Sign the petition to let Congress and the CPSC know that, “Testing children’s products for toxic chemicals must be a priority. No more toxic toys and children’s products!”*Just click here to sign the petition for children’s safety now:
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/
momsrising/signUp.jsp?key=2362&t=petition.dwt

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02.15.07

EXTREME Birthday Parties

Posted in Mom Tips, Great sites at 9:59 pm by Cristina

Jennifer and I often joke about how everything these days is “Extreme”.  Extreme Pizza.  Extreme Skydiving.  Extreme Driving.  Extreme Fried Chicken.  And this year, I had an Extreme Birthday Party with a friend for our 4 year old girls. 

It was a lot of fun, but I’ll admit it was pretty over the top.  My friend makes these gorgeous 3-D cakes. She made an entire barnyard scene complete with barn, animals, grass, a pathway, a pond, and a silo.  We had a petting zoo at her house, pony rides, abour 40 kids, and a lot of games.  Did I mention we had beer for the parents?  Yep.  It was, as I said, a lot of fun.  It was also Extreme. 

That being said, Jennifer took great joy in sending me this website link:  http://www.birthdayswithoutpressure.org/.  Not only is the test fun to take, but it offers great suggestions for kids parties.  So test yourself.  See if you’re as crazy as I am. 

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02.05.07

Adding happy thoughts to tasks you despise

Posted in Mom Tips at 1:15 pm by Cristina

We are always looking for tips and tricks from other moms we know, and our friend Cherie recently sent us this note:

My children both shared a Winnie the Pooh picture in their respective nurseries.  It was just a “happy, bring a smile to your face” picture that they both loved.  They’ve gotten older and have outgrown Pooh (for now, I’m waiting until they are older to introduce them to the Tao of Pooh.)  So, since the picture still brings a smile to my face I hung it in my laundry closet.  Believe it or not, it really does make doing laundry not so awful, as every time I open the doors and see that picture, I’m reminded of walking into the nursery and seeing both kids at different stages in their nursery.  Standing for the first time in their cribs, bouncing for the first time like Tigger, etc . . .

Cherie, by the way, knows a thing or two about maintaining sanity.  Her husband was deployed to Iraq for an extended period of time, so she was basically a single working other of two children.  She’s our hero.  I loved her idea of putting something like her Poo picture in an area where you might not be thrilled to spend time - in her case, the laundry room.  I know it might be hard to find a way to put a remembrance of happy times inside my toilet bowl (my least favorite task), but maybe some cool stuff ABOVE it would work. 

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