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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Happy Mom?

This lady has a point -- worth a read: http://www.kludgymom.com/happy-mom/

The short of it: Is Hating Motherhood "the new black"?

Especially after a long day of work, cleaning up some kind of dog/kid mess of horror, followed by tantrums over which color plate someone *needs*, and episodes of "He said my room is HIS room now! "... I do enjoy some snarky "Mommy Blog" humor. And I laugh at many a Someecard about Wine. 

But this lady has a point I've often thought myself: What's the actual price of so much negativity? I chose to be a mom, and while complaining can be theraputic, it can paint the wrong picture: I am actually blessed and very happy to be a mother. And I know how many women would give everything to be one; my body struggled greatly with this feat, too. Never a day goes by that my world is not fuller, brighter, full of wonder or more excitement -- thanks to my little Marissa and Caden. And while I *still* would recommend not rushing into this life stage, I would never choose differently, than to end up right here as "Mom" to someone.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Killing Us Indeed: Time's article on US Medical Bills

Let's get credit out there for the article I'm commenting on right away:

Time Magazine's Steven Brill wrote the following thought-provoking article:

Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us

Go ahead, take a look, I'll wait here.

No?  Well, essentially it's about the markup for health treatment: it is horrific and truly a problem.  Brill says, "When we debate health care policy, we seem to jump right to the issue of who should pay the bills, blowing past what should be the first question: Why exactly are the bills so high?"


I say "Exactly! And where are the answers?"

Brill lists examples of over 400% markups on services and generic Tylenol, among others.  As he puts it so aptly: It's the ultimate seller's market, where buyers have no choice but to be part of it.

Try this one snippet on for size:
According to one of a series of exhaustive studies done by the McKinsey & Co. consulting firm, we spend more on health care than the next 10 biggest spenders combined: Japan, Germany, France, China, the U.K., Italy, Canada, Brazil, Spain and Australia. We may be shocked at the $60 billion price tag for cleaning up after Hurricane Sandy. We spent almost that much last week on health care. We spend more every year on artificial knees and hips than what Hollywood collects at the box office. We spend two or three times that much on durable medical devices like canes and wheelchairs, in part because a heavily lobbied Congress forces Medicare to pay 25% to 75% more for this equipment than it would cost at Walmart.
Awesome, right?
Thanks again for looking out for the constituents, Congress! But, looks like there is quite a presence in Washington:
 The health care industry seems to have the will and the means to keep it that way. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the pharmaceutical and health-care-product industries, combined with organizations representing doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, health services and HMOs, have spent $5.36 billion since 1998 on lobbying in Washington. That dwarfs the $1.53 billion spent by the defense and aerospace industries and the $1.3 billion spent by oil and gas interests over the same period. That’s right: the health-care-industrial complex spends more than three times what the military-industrial complex spends in Washington.

On a personal note, our episode last month with our daughter having acute breathing distress, and therefore a trip to the ER, follow up pediatric care, eventual pneumonia diagnosis, and Rxs is currently coming in at $4,500+ right now as the billed amount.  Thank God we DO have insurance and deductible support (oops that's gone after this bill!) - but we still will be finding ourselves with essentially a car payment leftover.

What is happening?  And why are we spending so much more than other countries and not necessarily getting better results?

Thought provoking indeed, but I have to get back to work so I can pay my healthcare premiums.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Storm preparedness Checklist (for Real Life)

1) Multiple bottles of wine, case of beer. 
    (Pssst... Sangria might be a good idea.  Whatever you need to survive your loving family in possible close quarters for 3 days.)

2) Pan of brownies and/or cookies.

3) Wood in fireplace, ready to go!  (Or generator for those better equipped types.)

4) Gas in cars & Snow Blower & Shovel. 

5) No-cook food available: Lots of PB&J, Bread, some lunchmeat, fruit, crackers, hard-boiled eggs, bottled water, etc. 

6) Couple Flashlights & Plethora of expensive Yankee candles (If I lose power, at least we'll smell delightful here!)

7) Snow Gear.  For making snowmen afterwards of course!

8) Frantically washed laundry.  Warm PJs, underwear, & blankets especially!

9) Charged cell phones, laptop, portable DVD players, etc.  You need to be able to reassure the (grand)parents periodically you're alive.

10) Dog/cat food. Can't forget the little guys.

11) Board games you can finally force people to play!


Thursday, January 3, 2013

The Alarm Clock & the 4 Year Old

So one of our daughter's Christmas presents was the "Teach Me Time" Clock.

Teach Me Time


Kids can press a button, it will talk and give what time it is. She loves this - at age 4, she's constantly asking what time it is.  I like that it shows both the analog and digital display.

It also has some other important features: programmable nightlight, an "OK to Wake!" timer (clock glows green at time designated by parents), and an alarm clock.

We all have been big fans of the "OK to Wake!" green glow timer - it helps her know to stay in bed until a reasonable time (we set it to 7:15 a.m. for weekends) or read quietly in her room until then. The novelty of it and the fact that it's not mom/dad arbitrarily putting limits on her seems to have worked so far.

So, over the long holiday week, it's been a big hit.

The night before Back to Reality, (last night), I asked her if she wanted to try the alarm clock part like a Big Girl, or have Mommy come wake her like usual.

She said yes to the alarm, so we did a practice so she could hear what it sounded like and see how to turn it off.  All eagerness!

However, yesterday morning, my husband reported on what actually took place: Daughter, lying in bed, glowering at the clock and pulling the covers up over her head.  Normal routine of coaxing and begging to get ready followed.

Today, day two: She immediately turns the alarm off and vacates her room to the family room couch.  Where she continues snuggling and snoozing for another 20 minutes unbeknownst to us.  She further delays getting ready until she has to leave & take her breakfast with her to school.

Alarm FAIL.