Healthcare

I just received a letter from Aetna, our health care insurance. They announce a change in the monthly rates. They go up, of course. Now, these regular increases have doubled our rate from when we first signed on four years ago. Both my husband and I are self-employed, so we pay for our own health insurance. And, guess what: THERE IS NO COMPETITION. We have to sign up with either Aetna or Blue Shields who offer an identical plan for the same $$$. We cannot choose a different plan unless we want to pay so much more that it wouldn't make sense for us. But at this price level (and, believe me, it's very expensive), there is no other choice. So, when people say they don't want the government involved in their health care because the free market will take care of competition between the insurance companies just fine, that's not correct. There is no other company that offers a better or even just different plan for our needs at a lower price, and there won't be unless there is a public alternative as real competition for the insurances companies.

Last week, I was at the New York International Gift Fair and I spoke to some people from other countries about their health care. They all were in disbelief regarding this American discussion. "Someone offers you a public health plan and you don't want it?", Terryll from the UK asked me with wide eyes. They all said there is room for improvement in the public insurance in their countries, but no one wants to go without it.

The scariest thing for me: We pay these very high premiums every month, but will we really be covered in case of a serious illness or an accident? Or will our insurance company hide behind bureaucracy and fine-print and leave us high and dry?

What would you do?

I got a little upset today. No a huge deal, but still... My son went to a playdate with a boy in his class. While he had talked about this boy, we haven't had him over yet, and I haven't met the parents. His mom called a couple of days ago and asked wether my son would like to come over, and so we agreed on this afternoon. She said she wouldn't be home, but the babysitter (college age). She said, my son should have lunch at her house, that way I could drop him off right after his morning camp. I was happy for C. who wanted to go play with his classmate, and the timing worked out as well.

When I picked C. up after the playdate, I asked him how it went, and he said, fine but that he had a headache from all that Wii. "Great", I thought, but kept asking what else they had played. He said: "Nothing." Me: "What, three hours only Wii?" "Yes." "Well, you must have had a break to eat lunch. What was for lunch?" "Nothing. And I'm starving and I'm very thirsty." WTF???? What was this babysitter thinking? What was the mom thinking apparently not giving some instructions, at least about feeding the kids? I obviously feel very strongly about children NOT spending too much time in front of whatever electronic device (much rather have them decorate something out of cardboard :), but I also don't want to be a complete fun sucker, and so I usually allow 30 - 60 minutes of TV, computer and the like (actually gave in and bought a Nintendo DS for our trip...), but THREE hours? What about being active, creative and playing together? C. didn't even get to see what other toys the boy had. Not to mention the lack of food.

So, my question is, should I call the mother and tell her that I'm not happy with this? Maybe she doesn't know that her babysitter is rather of the passive kind? Or should I just drop it and just not have playdates with this kid anymore? If I was in her place, I would want to know, but then again I'm a total control freak and would leave the sitter with a list of things to do and craft and play and when and what food to offer at what time... Not sure. Any advice?

BootScoot!

Yay! BootScoot bikes! I'm so happy I finally found them and I would like to express my deep admiration for the woman who founded BootScoot. If you're not familiar with these awesome bikes, just imagine how great it would be if your 2 or 3 year old could confidentally ride around on his or her own bike - that's BootScoot! Modelled after the European/German "lauf-rad" (walking bike), these are balance bikes on which the kid simply pushes off with his feet, thus learning balance and never having to deal with training wheels. I bought one of those bikes for my own 3 year old daughter. This was the best buy ever! My daughter used her balance bike effortlessly and comfortably after only one day. When she turned four, she seamlessly made the transition to a real bike with pedals while her friends struggled with training wheels. We're still using the bike because it's so much fun, and many of our friends have borrowed it so that their kids can learn to balance easier. I always thought about how cool it would be to import balance bikes to the US but I didn't want to deal with the complications of such a process. Well, BootScoot has done it for me and I'm very happy to offer BootScoot balance bikes on my website http://www.creativetoyshop.com/bootscoot_home.html. I only recommend products of which I'm 100% convinced, and I'm really, really, more than 100% convinced of balance bikes. So, if your child is just starting out to get on riding toys, tricycles, etc, consider getting a BootScoot!

Composting

Just started to participate in The “Go Trash Free” Challenge! on http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/ And in my quest to reduce our trash, I came across the Tumbleweed Compost Tumbler. Looks great and easy to do. It's a bit costly but I think I'll make the investment. So far, I haven't regretted any of my "green" purchases (e.g. the steam cleaner Reliable T630), and this seems to be a relatively yuck-free way to compost. I wonder whether I can put my cardboard toys in the Tumbleweed Tumbler....? Just kidding - obviously, I need to read up on correct ways to compost. If you are experienced in composting, please drop me a line!

Gout and other grisly things

I'm over the weather. Not entirely over it, but I choose to ignore it now. Have been reading "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett yesterday pretty much all day. Can't wait to see when horrible William gets his.


And I've been reading MORE Magazine, geared towards the active, smart woman of 40 and over. I'm not a friend of age-stereotypes, but the magazine is dead on and addresses many issues I find interesting. The current one asks "Is Sugar Aging You?", and among other things, I learned today that "drinking even one 12-oz can of regular soda daily boosts your risk of heart attack by 24%." Holy schmokes. I LOVE my daily 12 oz dose of soda. It's a reward for whatever strenous tasks I accomplished by lunchtime (or didn't accomplish - I have the soda anyway). It's a treat. I love drinking the soda out of the can. Feels good and cool and rewarding in my hand, and the little hissing sound when you open it makes my mouth water with anticipation. But it also gives me a guilty pang, because I think it's complete bullshit to use cans in the first place. That's one of the things where I produce trash (I know, I know, cans are being recycled, but using less is still more efficient) just for 5 minutes of enjoyment. My dear husband drinks as much or more soda than I do, so we go easily through 14 - 20 cans each week. We don't buy the large bottles because we like the hissing sound of the can so much. So far, I've thought "Well, how bad can it be... 12 oz of chemicals, water and sugar, no big deal." But now that I know it's actually pretty bad for your ticker, I make a new resolution: No more cans in this house! Instead I will try Drink Mix Flavrz (http://www.flavrzdrinkmix.com/) with my carbonated water. I carbonate our water at home and keep using the same bottles over and over again - no trash, no chemicals, just filtered water, carbonated & cool & healthy. I love, love, love my Soda Club Maker, a handy little machine that sits on my kitchen counter and produces sparkling water as much and as often as I like. I used to buy bottled carbonated water but got tired of having to buy and carry the many, many bottles from the store to my house. And talk about feeling guilty when I looked at the pile of empty plastic bottles at the end of the week. So, that's solved now and I highly recommend the Soda Club Maker from http://www.sodaclub.com/sodaclubsystem if you like "fizzy" water. I'll let you know whether the Flavrz Drink Mixes are an adequate substitute for my beloved coke and its can.

Oh, I completely forgot what I set out to write: Gout. Yikes. Sounds gross. It's a painful form of arthritis. My knees have been hurting for the last two years when I jog, and I don't think I'm a victim of gout just yet (hits women after menopause, in most cases), but drinking sweet sodas increases your chances of getting gout. So, let's stay away from the sugar-drinks, let's get back to water and reduce trash.

Summer vacation

Wow, very green background here. It's my first attempt at blogging and something will have to be done about this GREEN, but first things first, let's get going with some content:

Ok, great, school is out and my two wonderful, energetic children will be energetic at my parents' house - for a whole week! Whoowhoo! This was supposed to give Brian and me some time to really kick ass at work, and, very importantly, give us a lot of time to play tennis, sip mojitos and enjoy the great outdoors. Super plan, sign me up! Well, I didn't really take into account that there could be rain. No, not true, I did think of a little rain, a couple of drops here and there. BUT I DIDN'T EXPECT THIS KIND OF UNINTERRUPTED DOWNPOUR. I can't believe it. Ever since my kids left our house, it's been raining straight. Little bit of hail, too, to mix it up. I guess, the kick-ass-at-work-plan is going to have to be put into action. Or eat stuff I really shouldn't be eating, watch movies that won't advance me in any sort of way and pick a fight with relatives who call in and want to know whether we're enjoying our little staycation... I hope, you, dear reader, live in a part of the country where the sun is shining, the mojitos flowing and the tennis balls flying. If not, head on over to http://www.creativetoyshop.com/ and pick out a little craft that you can enjoy with your energetic kids. Indoors. Or outdoors if you like to get wet. Free shipping for orders over $50.