Education

With nearly $2 million in medical bills for my son already in his 10-year life span, I’ve learned a few things along the way about how to handle medical bills. I’ve learned what to pay, how not to pay what I really don’t owe, and how to resolve hanging issues out there regarding bills I thought my insurance should have covered.  The truth is that insurance companies are in the business of making money. This also includes pharmacies, doctor’s offices, lab services and any other kind of medical vendor. Less than scrupulous companies make money when you pay bills you don’t really owe. If you pay it, there is a small chance you will get it back after following a...

As my pregnancy comes to an end I’ve been going over the final preparations for baby’s arrival, including lining up daycare. Thinking about dropping off our infant reminded me of how terrifying it seemed to me with our son. Looking back I can see how much my perspective has changed over the last three years. I had the guilt that seems so common for moms to feel as they leave their baby to return to the workforce. I mean, I’m paying someone to experience all these milestones with my child while I’m at work?! It was a struggle, but over time it became routine and I got used to it. It’s hard to believe I’m even going to say this,...

Is there anything harder than finding the perfect childcare for our little ones? It's a question that plagues a lot of us from the second we see the positive sign on the stick. When I made the choice to go to work full-time when my first son was almost two years old, I had no idea what to look for or even what to ask. Five years later, with owning my own midsize daycare behind me, I had to go through the process all over again. I won't downplay that it is a scary and stressful process looking for a place that will fit well with your family, but here are some questions and information that you can use to...

Have you ever struggled with knowing how to help your child learn to read? Like most parents, I have wondered how much is my responsibility and how much is up to my child’s teacher. Should we wait until the teacher says there is a problem? Or should we start working on these skills now? Regardless of how old your young reader is, there is something that you can do right now to improve his or her reading skills. There is a specific skill that most parents have never heard of, yet is one of the best predictors of how well a child will learn to read. Before we get into that though, let’s take a step back and look at the big...

People who live with anxiety face a battle almost everyday. I know because I have diagnosed anxiety. We often try to educate people on how to help us cope by giving them a lot of information at once. That can be helpful, but also overwhelming.  To understand anxiety you must first grasp that it affects the mental AND physical. We speak often about the anxious brain, but what about the anxious body? Ever heard of generalized anxiety? It is anxiety that lives on the inside of a person. It involves their nervous system and causes sensations in the physical body. I think of it as my body having a panic attack. Imagine feeling like all of the sensors in your body are going...