meta-dad

Kids In The Kitchen

Although our kids are still quite young, my wife and I feel it is important they are involved with cooking and mealtime at some level. It promotes a healthy sense of responsibility, safety in the kitchen, offers some special bonding time between you and the kids and lots of opportunities to learn different concepts along the way. Think about it; there’s lots of potential for More »

The cough & cold conundrum – Should they stay home?

Every parent, has struggled with this problem at some time, do I send my marginally sick kid to daycare or school or should I keep them home? The boogery truth about this is most of us parents have probably dropped off our dosed kid to school wondering if they were going to be able to make it through the day or would we get a call from the school nurse saying that we need to pick up our feverish kid.

Most adults are likely to have a common cold two to four times a year. Children, especially preschoolers, may have a common cold as many as More »

Costco says ‘no go’ to food stamps

Walmart accepts food stamps. Sam’s Club recently changed it’s policy and now accepts EBT cards. The Farmer’s Market also accepts food stamps. Heck, in the state of California select restaurants and even Flea Markets accept them. So why doesn’t the hugely popular Kirkland-based bulk purveyor? It is by no means mandatory and they are a member-only store, they claim that the majority of their business comes from small businesses and upper-income individuals and families. It is arguable that most recipients of food stamps are destitute and/or homeless and are far from a position of covering the basic $50 annual membership fee. But as many families are quickly finding out, it is a short road to the soup line in the current economy. More »

The ‘Great Recession’ – food stamps & the family

Everyone from the auto industry to the porn industry is looking for bailouts from a young motivated presidency still being tested in their first 100 days. The stock market is still heading south. Jobs are still wilting away with no promise of returning. This sour economy has affected many parents & families in profound ways and there is no looking back.

Regardless of whether you are an individual or an entire family in need, you need to find out the facts, the facts about what resources and services are available to you. If an individual or family is currently earning less than 130% of the Federal poverty level [FPL] and their current household assets are below $2,000 you may be eligible for More »

Go fly a kite!

Flying a kite with the kids is yet another golden activity that holds great potential for learning, bonding and just having a little fun. Ever wonder exactly why and how a kite flies? Chances are at some point your kids may ask you, right? With a little digging around I have found some great sites for explaining why and how kites fly, believe it or not NASA’s Glenn Research Center has a fantastic (and thorough) explanation of exactly how and why a kite flies.

While the forces on all kites are the same, each kite flies a little differently. Some kites are highly maneuverable and some kites are very stable. There are kites with multiple control lines that can perform stunts, while other kites can be flown to high altitudes. We can use math techniques that you learn in school to determine the altitude of a kite graphically. With a little more knowledge of mathematics, you can actually calculate the altitude at which the kite is flying” ~ Kite Flight, NASA’s Glenn Research Center

I got my kids into kites last spring with a simple $5 classic delta design and 200′ of line. I think it was a Diego design, surprise-surprise. They were thrilled at the action we got from the nearby ocean breeze. But kids being kids, More »

The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan and you

On February 10th, the Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, explained how the financial stability plan will be critical in supporting some type of effective economic recovery by potentially curtailing up to $4M in additional foreclosures regardless of what mortgage companies owns or services the loans. But for so many of us well-intended tax paying families and individuals we want to know exactly how it can help us.

This plan is designed to help people who are current on their mortgage but are in danger of defaulting on their loan in the near future due to a high combined mortgage debt compared to income or who is “underwater” (with a combined mortgage balance higher than the current market value of his house), in other words, they owe more than the current value of their house. By government analysis, as many as 6 million families are expected to face foreclosure in the next several years, with millions more struggling to stay current on their payments.

As we know the exact guidelines are going to be rolled out in the coming days. Since there is plenty incentive for both the mortgage provider ($1000 per loan modification/restructure and an additional $1000 per year up to three years, assuming the borrower stays current on payments) and the at-risk homeowners there is a lot of curiosity as to who exactly is eligible. A few things are clear; More »