Elder Law

Estate Planning Talk at the Thanksgiving Table

Is there anything more heartwarming than the tradition of a turkey being pardoned by the president before Thanksgiving? Of course not....

Estate Planning for Baby Boomers

Boomers do this and Millennials do that. Gen X, who knows? Ascribing personality traits to an entire generation has become a parlor game...

Scary Estate Planning Mistakes

The arrival of fall is a special time for people who love to be scared. Haunted hayrides, fright nights and jack-o-lanterns aplenty...

Estate Plans for Young Adults

As a professional, I rely on “scientific method” for determining societal views on aging. In common parlance, my “scientific method” is...

Do College Students Need an Estate Plan?

Which of these three sentences is true? My pet octopus likes to be walked three times a day. An 18-year-old is an adult. Hudson Valley...

Probate: Basics of the Process

You were warned. Lawyers, accountants, bankers, financial advisors, neighbors and Cousin Bernie all warned you. It has to be avoided. Not...

Retirement Planning in New York

Sitting in his cushiony, beige rock-and-swivel easy chair, my dad proudly proclaimed his plan for the future: “Alan, only 3,600 days...

What to Do When Your Spouse Dies

An estate and elder care attorney’s mission is to introduce practicality into one of life’s elemental tragedies. Losing a life-long...

Plan for Your Child With Special Needs

We worry. It is not just the doctor visits, the drumbeat of tests and follow-ups. It is the future. How will my child manage? What kind...

Hire an Elder Law Attorney for Your Medicaid Application

Although the context is slightly different, in my best Liam Neeson voice I want to call attention to elder law attorneys’ “very...

Working Mom

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Nothing tests the family dynamic quite like preparing for the holidays. It started the weekend before Thanksgiving when we took advantage...

The Beat Goes On

I’ve always been a lover of music and the concept that music is timeless. For example, the Red Hot Chili Peppers released their debut...

Not-So-Teachable Moments

Some of you readers may recall that about two months ago we welcomed a new member to the Crocco family, when our 5-year-old won a fish at...

Jitter Bug

I’ve decided to use this column to solicit help. Consider this an S.O.S. My child has ants in his pants. Mike and I have known this...

He’s Trying to Kill Me

Welp, Mikey made it about two and a half weeks in kindergarten before being sent to the principal’s office. For the record, I don’t think...

Kindergarten, Here We Come!

It was a big day in the Crocco household… Kindergarten! Yes, we recently sent our little 5-year-old man out into the world with our...

Bubble Guppies

We went to Family Day at the Patterson Fire Department, where Mikey enjoyed all the offerings – bounce houses, parade, face painting,...

Parenting is a Full-Contact Sport

Kids, man… They don’t hold back; they don’t bite their tongue. Unless you have thick skin, you may never make it out of parenting alive....

What He Doesn’t Know Will Definitely Kill Him

So, the 5-year-old is hip to the fact that we do not, in fact, go to bed right after he does, and to say it is not well-received...

The Great Doughnut Debate

I’ve determined that kids don’t become spoiled by receiving big gifts like a pony or a trip to Disney. No, they get spoiled through all...

Sorry, Kid, You’re Stuck With Us

I would love to be one of those go-with-the-flow moms who can let routine and schedules and bedtime go out the widow on a whim just to...

You’re Never Too Young to Earn Your Keep

I recently had to bring Mikey with me to run some errands for work. He’s 5, so I figured it’s time he learned to pull his weight, anyway....

Just Another Day in Paradise

I was having one of those days where I couldn’t stand my own kid. Now, I know there is a whole group of readers who are going to gasp at...

Big Guy in the Big Apple

We recently took Mikey on his first trip to New York City! His friends must have been talking about NYC, or maybe they even talked about...

Girls Rule, Boys Drool

When Mikey was younger, say, maybe 3-ish, he and his classmates seemed to have no concept of boy versus girl. They all played together...

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead

“Momma, can we bake something.” “Mmm, let me just wake up a little first, bud. Then we can bake something.” It’s 6:13 a.m. Saturday and...

Nothin’ But Time

One of the many things nobody warned me about parenting is how much time I would spend standing around doing nothing while watching my...

American Ninja Warrior, Mom Edition

Over the past few months Mikey has gotten much more engaged in independent play, which has my husband and I feeling two ways: guilty...

Houston, We Have a 5-Year-Old!

So, here’s something to add to my Mother of the Year application: I unintentionally handed out tobacco paraphernalia to about 44 5-year...

Pearly Whites

Recently, a 15-minute pediatric dentist visit took about 4 years off my life. The dentist… The. Dentist… where teeth go to shine but...

Potty Peril

I was sitting in a coffee shop recently when a man came in with what I assume was his son. He was a bigger guy – tall and broad. The boy...

Germs Are a Kid’s Best Friend

In all our combined 78 years on this earth, my husband and I have never been as continually physically ill as we have been this past four...

Children Are a Blessing

We recently attended a baptism for my nephew. The drama began before we even left the house, attempting to get Mikey to wear something...

Surviving Christmas

Christmas was wonderful. It was full of family and food and presents, and a spoiled 4 ½-year-old… as it should be. A truly magical time....

Thankful

A few weeks ago my husband, Mike, took the 4 ½-year-old with him to run some errands in the Danbury area and they stopped at McDonald’s...

Days are Long, But Years go Fast

The days following Daylight Savings are the longest in all of eternity. Better parents ease their children into it. They start four...

Heroes in a Half Shell

Mikey was Michelangelo for Halloween. The ninja turtle, not the artist. The fun started a few weeks ago when we were finally brave enough...

Sir Isaac Newt-on Gingrich

I’m almost home after picking Mikey up from pre-kindergarten when a call rings over the Bluetooth in the car. “Oh, it’s Dada,” I tell the...

Indecent Exposure

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share this little story with all you readers, but then I decided that if the point of this column is to be...

Mischief & Mayhem

I often wish my son could have the same kind of childhood I had. I remember summers spent riding my bike with the neighborhood kids from...

The Polite Police

My 4-year-old has better manners than any adult I know, and Lord knows neither my husband nor I taught him them. It’s those dang...

Momma Blues

I find it funny they call it the “Baby Blues,” because if I could assign a color to represent the dark thoughts and feelings that...

Privacy? What Privacy?

You know the scene in Jurassic Park when the velociraptor learns how to open the door to the kitchen and the kids who are hiding inside...

Supermarket Sweep

I shave years off of my life during trips to the grocery store with Mikey in tow… Years. Mikey likes to be my little helper at the...

It’s Time to Build a Better Village

I heard a saying last week that was new to my ears but has apparently been around awhile: There is no such thing as other people’s...

An Unsophisticated Palate

“It’s too white,” Mikey says, folding his arms on the table and resting his chin on them, a scowl on his face. My husband and I look at...

Pillow Talk

My back is pressed up against one of the mesh railings affixed to Mikey’s twin bed. Baby Yoda is propped up on my hip, Chompy the...

Baby on the Brain

I used to think I was a somewhat intelligent human being. Then I became a mom. When Mikey was only a few months old I was certain he had...

Birthday Blowout

My husband and I decided to throw a small party for Mikey’s 4th birthday. We weren’t even sure if birthday parties are considered...

An Expensive Nap Time

My thoughts go out to all those parents of newborns having to resort to driving their babies around in the car to lull them to sleep...

Pandemic Silver Linings

I never before truly understood the term “smiling with your eyes,” but after two years of seeing less of people’s full faces, reading...

Spoiled With a Capital ‘S’

“Do you think Mikey is spoiled?” I was on the phone with my mom and there was a long pause before she answered, which to me was an...

Living on the Edge

I was sitting on the curb of the student pick-up traffic circle, my head in my hands, my 3-year-old losing his mind in the car. I was...

Financial Advice

What is Elder Law Care Coordination?

It is hard to miss Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, where 80 acres of conforming red brick apartment buildings sit on the east edge...

Time to Review Your Estate Plan?

Parents of young children will inevitably have a conversation about mortality and its impact on the family. “Who would raise our kids?...

Watch Out For Tax Season Scams

It’s that time of year when we do our taxes – but it’s also the same time tax scammers go to work. What scams should you watch for, and...

When Can You Choose Retirement?

If you’re like most people, your work has been a central part of your life. So, wouldn’t it be nice to have the flexibility to decide...

Your ‘Recession Survival’ Checklist

It’s unfortunate, but recessions are a fairly normal part of the economic landscape. When a recession occurs, how might you be affected?...

Advice for Alzheimer’s Caregivers

If you have a family member who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, or is starting to show symptoms, you will face some real...

Should You Consolidate Retirement Accounts?

One of the rewards for working over several decades is the ability to contribute to tax-advantaged retirement accounts, which can help...

When to Adjust Your Investment Mix

There are no shortcuts to investment success — you need to establish a long-term strategy and stick with it. This means you’ll want to...

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