Elder Law

Express Thanks Through Thoughtful Estate Planning

Right around Labor Day 1990, my grandmother made an announcement. She spoke softly to all of us seated with her at the Riverdale Diner....

Was Your Will Properly Constructed?

I could rhapsodize for days on the Wills I have seen. Dr. Seuss rhymes would fly in every direction. Big Wills. Small Wills. Little...

Estate Planning: Your Personality Matters

Estate planning has a lot in common with travel planning. For many, a successful vacation is achieved through full itineraries –...

Family, Family, Family

In my younger days, I made funny faces when I was photographed at family functions. It was nothing serious – a phase. I was 8, not 45 or...

Legal Tips for College Students & Families

College tours have not changed much over the decades. Walk around the campus for an hour and a half, passing 37 dining halls – but not...

Securing Your Estate for the Future

Is this what you thought the future would be? I’m not talking about cars that drive themselves (badly). Think about your family. For...

Medicaid is Not Fooling Around

My grandmother taught me how to play poker. While I wish more time was dedicated to teaching me how to cook like her, instead of learning...

Avoid Probate: The Art of Staying Alive

Estate planning meetings often lead to some pretty morbid conversations about life and death. “What if I get crushed by a boulder after I...

Forget Family Feud, Make a Family Agreement

Forget “12 Angry Men,” I have five steamed-up siblings seated around my table. Estate and long-term care planning options sometimes favor...

Communication is Key

The end of spring and early summer always brings me back to those last days of school and the feelings that accompanied them. Cleaning...

Working Mom

Finders Keepers … Finders Weepers

One day this summer I picked Mikey up from camp and we hit a nearby playground where I was subjected to numerous rounds of Gaga Ball....

I Finally Came Clean About the Fish

Well, readers, I had a real parenting fail recently. I was cutting the gross stuff off some raw chicken breast while Mikey worked out of...

When You Gotta Go, You Gotta Go

Warning: This column is gross. Mikey and I were enjoying the unseasonably warm weather last week, sitting on a bench near the town park...

History is Weird

We now have a non-training-wheel bicycle rider! All summer Mikey showed no interest in learning to ride his bike. Then we went camping...

‘Hello! McFly!’

Apparently I have a superpower… Invisibility. You wouldn’t believe the number of times I ask Mikey a question, give him a greeting, or...

Out of the Mouth of Babes

If you read my last column, you know that my 6-year-old likes to wait until we are in the car and I can’t just run away when he asks me...

If All Else Fails … Avoid

A recent conversation with the 6-year-old on the drive home from summer camp had me wanting to careen the SUV into the nearby woods and...

Idle Hands

If you’ve read my columns before, you know my child doesn’t sit still. Whether you call it an undiagnosed attention deficit something or...

Holiday Weekends are Killer

Imagine the following threat leaving my lips through gritted teeth with flushed cheeks and a vein bulging out of my neck, with spectators...

Age is Definitely More Than a Number

I still sometimes get asked the question: “Do you and your husband think you’ll ever have more kids?” My response is usually a little...

Moms Get Sensory Overload, Too

I never had a sensory issue until I had a kid. Now, it seems I am constantly on the verge of overstimulated, “touched out,” in need of...

On The Road Again…

Well, we survived another several-hours-long road trip to western New York without killing each other, so I consider that a good kick off...

A Tough Crowd

I recently received an email from Mikey’s teacher regarding an upcoming reading program, and it sparked a memory – or, more accurately, a...

Duh!

We have entered a new phase of childhood that includes “Duh!,” as well as the eye roll, “Yeah!” with a head bob, and – get this – air...

Privacy 101

I know there are plenty of families with kids Mikey’s age that still bathe together or get dressed in front of their little ones, but in...

When You’re Dead, You’re Dead

When it comes to parenting, when you decide to just throw your hands up, it’s not always in defeat. Sometimes you’re just choosing to let...

Without Order, There is Chaos

Let’s talk about the horrors of having someone without kids drop by unexpectedly and getting an uncensored look at your house in all its...

Snow Way!

I remember being a kid and waking up early to listen to the radio to hear if my school was on the list of delayed starts or closures, and...

Worry Wart

If anyone had told me before I had a child that becoming a parent would turn me into a stark raving mad lunatic, I would have never...

A Day in the Life

This week I’ve decided to provide readers with a few snippets that could happen at any time during a day in the life with my 5-year-old...

Santa’s Watching

As I write this column I have less than two weeks left of what I like to call “free parenting assistance” and sometimes even “free...

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...

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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