It's been a bit stressful at my house this week and I am finally breathing a bit easier.

I'm not the only one. My daughter, who is not yet three, had her adenoids out this week. I know, adenoids. Not that big a deal. But any surgery is a big deal and my family does not have a great track record when it comes to this stuff. And Amy is not only young but small for her age, she weighs in at a measly 26 pounds.

We took her to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), which you might recognize as being ranked #1 in the country for pediatric hospitals by Child magazine. We are so glad to live near such a great hospital. When my oldest daughter was born, she had a crushed vocal cord due to a difficult delivery. Apparently, the crushing usually occurs on the one side and this time, it happened on… Read More

Weeks ago, I posted about the difficulties in finding a good nanny and the financial and tax consequences of choosing a nanny for childcare. The rules, as they are written, can be somewhat confusing. But, as a tax attorney, I felt like I finally mastered the basics. That is, until I finished doing my taxes this week. That's right, this week. I rarely file on time. It's one of the joys of being a tax attorney… Read More

I'm totally serious.

Well, sort of.

While my husband would clearly disagree (since his net worth has taken a hit since marriage what with tuition, childcare, etc. chip, chipping away at our bank accounts), there are a number of reports which seem to indicate that married persons are generally better off economically. Just yesterday, the Economist published a story citing statistics which again confirm those reports. At first the statistics appear a bit simplistic. The… Read More

I had previously reported that we have been half-heartedly searching for a new car.

There are a number of features that we're looking for...

• It has to seat five comfortably plus room for a large black lab on occasion.
  
• It must have leather seats - I know, it sounds extravagant but I learned after getting a car with upholstered seats that they don't mix with todders very well. That's right, juice stains fabric, it wipes

… Read More

I posted before about the value of taking advantage of reciprocal memberships when it comes to places like zoos and museums. Imagine my surprise to find that such discounts and reciprocity apply to arboreta!

Okay, I know what you're thinking... An arboretum? Isn't that like a museum for trees? Isn't that a little, well, um, boring?

Don't fall into that trap! I thought the same thing and I was wrong.

The museum part is… Read More

On Mother's Day, my family and I did something kind of unconventional. We didn't have brunch at a fancy restaurant. We didn't go to Oma's house. We didn't get dressed up at all. Instead, we put on jeans and headed down to a plant nursery in the city. The nursery is called Greensgrow Farms and it is smack in the middle of a Philadelphia neighborhood. I wasn't sure what to expect since last time we came at the… Read More