Holiday Stress

Everyone has stress this time of year. Everything from cooking the Thanksgiving feast, to hosting parties, and finding the perfect gift that doesn't break the bank. What methods do you use to combat holiday stress.

For me, it's starting early. I shop early and often, but not to excess. I head out (or online) as we get ideas for different family members. This lets me do my research and shop a little bit at a time. I also start my holiday baking early and freeze items until they are needed. Wrapping gifts seems to get put off a little bit, but then it is easier to get everything out at once and just go for it.

When to Potty Train

Our daughter is 20 months old and we have spent the last 3 weeks trying to potty train. She caught on to holding it pretty quickly, but never seemed to get the idea of telling me she needed to pee. We tried the timer method and that was wearing me out, but we weren't having too many accidents. The we tried the 3 day method and LG seemed to get the idea of keeping her panties dry and holding it, but still wouldn't tell me she needed to go.

Frustration is starting to set in, so we decided to postpone things and try again in a few months. What is your experience in starting potty training? What is the ideal age and methods that work for you?

What is weathly?

There has been a lot of talk by politicians in the past year or two about helping the "middle class" and having the "wealthy" paying their "fair" share. These discussions are disquieting for several reasons...

1) Making the "wealthy" pay their "fair share" to help other Americans seems very socialist and goes against the grain of what I think made and makes our country great. To me one of the core American ideals has been that if you work hard, anything is possible. Some of the tax payer funded social systems in place already undercut this ideal (welfare), but as a society, we do have a responsibility to help the less fortunate. Why should we punish someone for doing what it takes to achieve a certain level of success and the income that goes with it?

2) The way "wealthy" is defined. The number I've heard thrown around most defines wealthy as anyone who makes $250,000 or more per year. Wealth is a relative concept.... A single person making $250,000 may truly be wealthy and able to pay extra taxes. But, what about a family where the gross income is $250,000? Depending on where they live, they may just barely making ends meet by the time they make mortgage, tax, and day care payments then also address the basic needs of the family.

We barely squeak into the 6 figure category some years and I know we don't feel wealthy! But, there are people in different parts of the country would feel rich if they were suddenly making the equivalent income.

Once we set a threshold of "wealth" it is a slippery slope to gradually lower that number. I honestly think a better approach would be to revise and simplify our tax system. There are lots of loop holes both for corporations and individuals that drain a lot of potential income from the treasury. There is also a lot of waste in our system (medicare and welfare) that could be addressed.