I’ve been a freelance writer for about a dozen years and have written for pretty much every women’s magazine out there. Before kids, I used to write a lot for Marie Claire. I pitched every one of my stories — that is, I came up with the idea, wrote it up, and it was approved and assigned by the editors. One of the ideas came about after a friend had her first baby. Afterward, she confided, she was having problems. Any time she laughed, coughed, or ran, she leaked urine. I did research for her and realized that her pelvic floor muscles were probably stretched out or damaged from pushing for more than three hours. It was a story, I decided, and I pitched it to my Marie Claire editor. Here’s an excerpt from the letter (yes, an actual snail mail letter since my editor wanted to see clips, too) I wrote:

Thank you for taking a look at my pitch on vaginal strength and gynecological physical therapy, which I sent to you today via e-mail. As I mentioned in my e-mailed pitch, the researchers I’ve spoken to such as Dr. Lauri Romanzi, a uro-gynecologist at Cornell University-New York Presbyterian Hospital say American women are missing out because few know that their vaginal problems can be solved using directed Kegels, biofeedback, and other physical therapy methodologies. This leads to needless suffering just because doctors and most media outlets are squeamish about the topic. I’d love to be the one that breaks down these barriers and helps let Marie Claire readers in on the secret.

Completely crappy letter, but hey, I was just a wet-behind-the-ears kid. But I digress as usual. The story was assigned, but not exactly in the way I envisioned. The title of my story morphed from “Get a Stronger Pelvic Floor,” to “Best Orgasm Ever!” You can read it here. There’s still advice and info that stands the test of time. The testers were two of my karate pals and me, of course. And I got to go into Dr. Glazer’s New York City office, get uro-dynamic testing, and take home a vaginal biofeedback machine. It was fairly awesome. (I remember being very offended that I was “strong” but lacked “endurance.” In layman terms, my pelvic floor muscles were strong, but got tired quickly.)

Anyway, fast forward a half a dozen years and I was pregnant with my second child — you know, after my first child that weighed in at 8 pounds, 5 ounces at birth and who has a giant head. I got the flu. Twice. I had HUGE issues. Every time I coughed, I leaked. (Sorry for that TMI.) I blogged about it. Anyone who is having similar issues should definitely read that post, Whiz Bang, You’re Wet (Or How Not to Pee Your Pants).

As my story and the book, The Bathroom Key, show, there are millions of women suffering with urinary incontinence but they don’t have to be. There are treatments and exercises and help available. You just have to be willing to talk about a problem that could seem a little embarrassing. In this case I think we as women need to take a page from men. They are more than willing to go into their doctors’ offices and tell them about weak urine streams and erectile dysfunction. Why should we be afraid of talking about a little leaky urine?

Have you ever had a problem with bladder incontinence or any other pelvic floor issues? Did you seek help? How did that go for you? I’d like to know.

Right now, I’ve got both my girls in Britax Frontier 85s, convertible boosters that can be used with a 5-point harness or with the regular seat belt. They are great, but big, so whenever I try and add a third kid back there, I am at a loss. I have two options: shoehorning the kid in between the two boosters and forgoing a booster seat for that child or leaving my little one home with a sitter so I can have the child sit in Little Girl’s booster. Both options are unappealing. Either I am driving around unsafely or I’m paying a sitter. When I explain my space issues, most parents don’t care, telling me to just put their kid in there without a booster. (One even told me to let her child sit in the front seat — I refused, and I digress.) This seems to be happening across the country, according to a new American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) study that was released today.

The study — Carpooling and Booster Seats: A National Survey of Parents — found that “more than half of parents carpool children other than their own, but they do not always use boosters for children who usually use one.” The study was published in the February, 2012 issue of Pediatrics, the AAP’s journal.

There was good news in the report. Around three out of every four 4- to 8-year-olds were using seat belts as per their state laws, but booster seat use, especially for carpoolers, wasn’t as good. Here’s the thing: national recommendations say that kids should be in boosters until they are 57 inches tall. My 8-year-old, for instance, is only 44 inches, so she’s got a while before she should give up her booster.

Here in New York the booster seat law requires kids under eight to be in a seat, but it also says that kids who are shorter than 4’9″ or who weigh less than 100 pounds should keep using their seat. Take a look at the brochure yourself. (And here’s an excerpt.)

An appropriate child safety restraint system:

• Is required for all children until their 8th birthday and
• Must meet the size and weight requirements for the child based on the Federal requirements and the recommendations of the manufacturer, and
• Can be a child safety seat, a harness, a vest or a booster seat attached with the vehicle seat belt or latch system, but not the vehicle seat belt alone, and
• Should not be used in the front seat of the vehicle.
• If the child is eight years old and is under 4’9″ tall or weighs less than 100 lbs, it is recommended that you continue to use a child restraint system.

So yes, I need a new car, preferably one with a third row so I can safely transport my own kids and their friends. That’s really not too much to ask.

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After dropping the little one at school, I arrived at the class and (once again) marveled at how many people are at the gym during the day. The parking lot was packed, and a good portion of the almost 50 bikes were taken. Snapping on my spin shoes (yes, I finally got spin shoes!), I got right into the class. The music was good, and the energy was flowing.

About 9:50 a.m. one of the other riders — a woman in her 50s who was quite overweight –  leaned forward on her bike to ask the instructor something. Always nosy, I wondered what she said, and was able to figure it out when the instructor walked over to the fans and turned them on halfway. I would have liked to get the full effect of the fans, but since I was sweating profusely by that point, I said a silent thank you in my head and kept going. About ten minutes later the woman who had requested the fans got off of her bike and walked out. I was shocked when the instructor took the opportunity to say something about it.

“I think she left because I only turned the fans on halfway,” she said, laughing, her voice filled with scorn.

I thought it was rude of her to say anything, and was about to tell her so, but stopped when I heard one of the other women in the class was already sticking up for her. “Yes, but she usually only does half a class,” explained the woman. The instructor wasn’t giving up. “Yeah, but she barely did half a class today. I mean, she really left early.”

I kept my mouth shut, but I was instantly so hurt for that woman. I hate it when people — women especially — feel the need to put other women down. I was especially upset that the teacher decided to blame the woman’s departure on her physical abilities and heat tolerance. How did she know what’s going on in that woman’s life? Maybe the woman is like me, sneaking out of work to get a little exercise in. Maybe she had an important phone call to jump onto. Maybe she was meeting a friend for lunch. Actually, who cares why she left! She’s a customer paying a lot of money to go to that gym, and it’s no one’s business if she does five minutes of a class or 60 minutes. The instructor, in my opinion, should shut her mouth and do her job, which does not include criticizing and critiquing her students, especially those who have already left the room. Totally unprofessional.

The gym is a tough place for all of us but that woman, I feel, was singled out because she was overweight. The instructor is one of those super-tiny, spandex-wearing women who is great at motivating people, but doesn’t understand — at least in my opinion — what it’s like to be a regular person who doesn’t count fitness as a career. She’s not the first instructor like that I’ve run into, either. I’ve had yoga teachers announce very loudly as a new student struggled that her class was for “advanced” students. I’ve seen step teachers tell people to “keep up or get out.” I’ve seen personal trainers talk to their trainees in ways that were outright offensive. Of course, these people are the minority, but every time one of these people belittled their students I knew in my heart that they wouldn’t be back. Why would anyone want to come to a place and feel bad about themselves? Exercise is supposed to be fun — not cringe- or guilt-inducing.

Once the class was over, I decided to do something to change what I had seen. Although I was already an hour into my usual work day, I stopped at the front desk on my way out. I told the entire story, and the girl behind the desk immediately handed me a comment card. It was important, she said, to let the manager know so that instructor could be reminded about proper class etiquette. Will it help? Maybe, maybe not, but at least I tried.

Have you ever had a bad experience at a gym or fitness class? What did you do? I’d like to know.

I finally found a place for all the clutter -- at Best Buy!

We are big tech people. I can’t count how many servers, workstations, gaming consoles, and pieces of consumer electronics that we’ve purchased since we’ve been married. I’ve been recycling the big stuff — computers, laptops, monitors, and televisions — for a while now, but it’s been more difficult to figure out what to do with all the cords, remotes, and other electronic-related items that were left over. Oh, and I can’t forget the plastic gift cards that we used to purchase them. They were invariably thrown into the trash. Until now, that is.

I’ve always known that Best Buy has a fabulous electronics recycling program, but it wasn’t until recently that I realized the store also took stuff that other recycling sources won’t: CDs, DVDs, gift cards, wires, cables, cords, remotes, and controllers. Oh, and the store also has a repository for plastic bags, batteries, and ink and toner cartridges, too. At last! I have a place to get rid of everything — for free! While you might not think throwing away an empty gift card here and a wire there is a big deal, it really is because it all adds up. We, as a society, generate more than 4 billion pounds of e-waste every year, so it’s important to take every recycling opportunity we can. We should be recapturing whatever we can.

My Best Buy epiphany had its roots on YouTube. I found out about the company’s recycling program by doing a search. (I was looking for a place to get rid of all my old CDs and CD-Rs.) Even though I was busy that day, I actually sat through the company’s video about how it recycles. I wanted to be sure Best Buy wasn’t like so many other companies that say they are recycling but simply collect everything and dump it overseas without removing the hazardous materials such as lead, cadmium, and mercury. (It’s a great video, BTW, and worth sitting through and showing to your kids.) I was really happy to see that Best Buy is able to break down all those tvs, laptops, keyboards, and monitors into their most basic elements so they can go back into the supply chain. Who knew a keyboard could go right into a shredder?

Last week I made a trip to Best Buy with my kids. They watched as I unloaded a black garbage bag full of wires and cables as well as a small box of old remotes. When I got home I started a bag for gift cards. It’s sitting in the garage next to my bag of old batteries. While I know I can’t recycle everything, it really makes me feel good to lessen my footprint — if only just a little bit. How about you?

About two weeks ago I looked down at my dry, cracking hands and my brittle, peeling nails and decided to do something about it. Several things, actually. First, I went out and bought non-latex rubber gloves for dishwashing and other wet tasks. Then, I started wearing warm gloves whenever I left my house even if I was only running to the car for two seconds. Finally, I started slathering my hands with lotion after every handwashing — something a germaphobe like me does a lot. I started lotioning up before bed, too. The results have been incredible.

My nails are growing! This is unprecedented! And not only are they growing, but they are strong, shiny, and healthy-looking. I never had nails. Ever. Not once in my adult life except for a brief foray into wearing fake ones, and that exercise ended in a plastic surgeon’s office. I broke one and, since my hands were always wet, ended up with a nasty fungal infection under the nail. I cried when the plastic surgeon was removing my ENTIRE nail not just because it hurt, but because I knew I was going back to having stumpy nails.

Yes, water has been my downfall in all this. I waitressed my way through junior high, high school, and college, so my hands were always in a bucket of bleach and water or pickles or coleslaw. Then I got married, got a house, and started cleaning my house. Again, my hands were plunged into buckets of water used to clean bathrooms and floors and sinks that held my handwashable dishes (we didn’t own a dishwasher) and sweaters. And then came my two kids who required baths, hairwashing, and handwashing. They also dirtied lots of stuff that needed handwashing like bottles and binkies. Oh, and I started washing my hands constantly, too, since I didn’t want to be the one who got them sick.

Since I’ve started this experiment, I’ve noticed not only longer nails, but also better skin, too. I’ve almost completely eliminated the dry, wrinkly look on the top of my hands and the cracks in between my fingers and thumb and on my knuckles. My hands don’t look like they are 60 anymore! It’s a wonderful thing.

This hasn’t been easy, although in the grand scheme of things it’s not really huge, but still. As someone who is always rushing around, taking care of my hands is a mental chore. It takes conscious thought for me to stop, put on gloves, and take care of my skin. But I am doing it. The first of several resolutions for this year. No, it’s not getting more sleep or teaching myself Spanish — two of my other resolutions for 2012 — but it’s something. And this year, since I am being kinder to myself and focusing more on the positive instead of the negative, that’s really something.

How about you? What are your resolutions? I’d like to know.

I was lucky. After the doctor cleaned the wound and cut back some of my toenail she told me that it was probably broken (of course) and that although it was still bleeding a lot, the bleeding would stop within a few hours. She bandaged it up, and was about to send me on my way when she asked how I had found out about her office. I told her that I walked around on her practice for more than a decade. I wasn’t kidding. I have orthotics and they are printed with her practice’s name and number. How old were my orthotics really, she wanted to know. Old, I said. I had them for at least 15 years. That’s when she told me that orthotics have a “shelf life” of a couple of years. She told me I should replace the ones I had, and suggested that I do it when I followed up with her in a week for a pinky toe recheck. Why not, I figured.

The next Saturday I went back to the foot care practice. The doctor checked out my black and still-painful toe, and then told me that her office had checked and my orthotics would be covered 100 percent. If I wanted them, they could do the exam right then and there. The kids were at their Saturday morning events, so I jumped at the chance. Oh, there would be just one thing, her assistant added. I had to get x-rays because, and I quote, “it is a requirement of your insurance carrier.” Hmmm. I was skeptical, but I figured that a doctor’s office — my doctor’s office — wouldn’t lie to me. Soon after I found myself standing on an x-ray platform. A week or so later I got the detailed bill from the insurance company. My re-check, x-rays, and orthotics cost my insurance company $960. An hour-long visit netted the practice almost $1,000 once they threw in my $20 co-pay.

Okay, so earlier this week I get a call from the podiatrist’s office. My orthotics were in, and the woman on the phone wanted to set up an office visit to have me pick them up. I’ve worn orthotics for years, I explained, I don’t need or want an office visit. And then came more or less the exact words the doctor’s assistant had said at my first visit: “Your insurance company requires an office visit before we can give them to you.”

I had my in-laws here when they called, so I didn’t want to argue on the phone. However, this time, I wasn’t just taking their word for it. And so earlier today I put in a call to my insurance company. Guess what? Not only were they lying about the office visit, but I didn’t need x-rays, either. I was mad.

I called the office and spoke to the receptionist. I wanted to come pick up my orthotics, please, I said. She reiterated her “insurance requires it” speech, and said the doctor had to “put the orthotics” in my shoes. I didn’t even let her finish before letting her know that I knew she was being less than truthful with me. I told her I had just gotten off the phone with the insurance company, and there was no such rule. Finally, I told her that I was not wasting $35 (my co-pay went up this year) to have a doctor slide inserts into my shoes. She was quiet for a second before taking my number and saying she would have to “check” with the office manager first. And now I’m waiting to hear back.

This is another example of why I feel like we all have to be our own medical advocates. The Republicans and Democrats can bitch all they want about class warfare, but the real battle is happening in doctor, dentist, and therapist offices across the country. Payments have gone down, paperwork has gone up, and we are bearing the brunt of both. We get tests we don’t need so doctors can boost their per-office visit fees. We wait for HOURS because they rack ‘em and stack ‘em, piling up patients so they don’t have any downtime in case someone should cancel. They charge us for copies of our medical records, something that should essentially be free since we OWN them. They spend less and less time with us and get mad if we ask questions. (Exhibit A: The midwife who told me, after my miscarriage, that her office might not be for me since I dared to question her treatment plan.)

People, we are the only ones who can mitigate these issues. We MUST be vigilant so we get the best care at the most reasonable charges. We have to stop blindly taking medicines, submitting to testing, and filling out paperwork. (For example, you shouldn’t give your Social Security number to your doctor’s office unless you’re receiving Medicare or Medicaid.) We have to be willing to question why, and if we’re not satisfied with the answer, we have to keep asking — and in some cases someone else — until we are. Whew. I hate being all soapbox-y, but this stuff really, really makes me crazy.

I cannot WAIT to see what happens with my podiatrist, one who was recently given a Best Of award by a local newspaper. Will they hold my orthotics hostage? Will they waive my co-pay just so they can bill my insurance company? I’ll let you know.

My husband cares about getting away more than I do. In fact, he has been begging for me to find someone to watch the kids so we can get away. It’s not easy, though. Little Girl is not only little, but also more than a handful, and Big Girl has a lot of events and activities. Finding someone wouldn’t be easy. However, at his insistence I finally asked my mother and his parents to help us out. We’d take a brief, three-night trip to Disney with two out of three of our favorite couples (one of our friends is running the Goofy Challenge) and have a little alone time, too.

We left yesterday — Friday — and since I am away I can’t really go on too much about what it was like to leave the kids (horrible, gut-wrenching, sad, scary), I will say that once we got here it was fairly amazing not having to cut anyone’s food, stop any fights, or make sure hands and faces were washed. We were able to sit and talk to each other. We were able to relax.

For me, the biggest thing was being able to see that although my husband and I parent together really well, we’ve still got plenty in common aside from the kids. We still connect on other levels. We’re still friends.

I don’t see this happening again for a while. I think our parents are overwhelmed with the task of caring for two young children, and my siblings have their own stuff (kids, pets, health issues) to worry about. Even so, I’m looking forward to the day where we can do this again. In the meantime, I’ve only got another 48 hours in Disney. I’d better get back to my vacation!

The study, Societal Values and Policies May Curtail Preschool Children’s Physical Activity in Child Care Centers, found that preschool kids are getting very little exercise during the day, a problem since a sedentary lifestyle may contribute to obesity. According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) guidelines, preschoolers should spend 120 minutes every day doing physical activities, but few reach that goal. Says the study:

“Children spend most (70%–83%) of their time being sedentary in child care — even when excluding time spent in naps and meals — and only spend 2% to 3% of the time in vigorous activities.”

Researchers conducted the study to figure out what’s contributing to the lack of exercise and activity. They found that there are three main reasons for kids’ sedentary lifestyle at school and daycare: concerns about injuries, financial limitations, and a stronger focus on academics.

I get the injuries thing. Little Girl got pushed through a playhouse window her first week at school and ended up with a huge scrape on her belly. Those are, I’m sure, the types of injuries parents and educators are worried about, and the reason fear of injuries was the number one worry of those interviewed for the study. I guess we’re all a little crazy these days when it comes to keeping kids safe. Still, as my husband reminds me kids are not veal. It’s okay for them to get bumped and scraped and bruised while they are playing. Or, even more direct: No, I cannot wrap Little Girl in bubble wrap to keep her safe.

As to the financial issue: Schools and daycare centers can’t afford “expensive” outdoor equipment or an indoor gross motor room where kids could play and run during inclement weather. Besides, they are being pressured by parents and regulations to make sure kids know their ABCs, colors, and shapes before entering kindergarten.

The study concludes with the following statement about kids and activity: “Child advocates must think holistically about potential unintended consequences of policies designed to protect children’s safety (eg, licensing codes that have rendered climbers uninteresting, or early learning standards that encourage child-care providers to cut time dedicated for outdoor play). Given that childhood obesity is quickly eclipsing childhood injury as a leading cause of morbidity, and that time in child care [including preschool] may be the child’s only opportunity for outdoor play, licensing standards may need to explicitly promote physical activity in as much detail as is devoted to safety.”

In other words, parents should encourage kids to run and jump as much as possible, and tell schools and daycare centers to do the same.

I don’t worry about my own preschooler. She never stops running here at home, doing laps around my house in her natural speed: fast. In addition, the preschool that she goes to has a policy to let kids play outside every single day as long as it’s not raining and the temperature is above 32 degrees. Between running my halls and running at school, Little Girl is definitely getting the recommended two hours of activity, but I can definitely see how that might be difficult for kids who are in daycare all day or those, like my older child, who prefers reading and art to jumping and climbing. There are things you can do to get kids moving, though.

For example, I bought Big Girl an indoor trampoline and one of those foam hopscotch boards and made sure she was spending time on both daily. I took her to parks, which are free, and on walks — also free — when it was nice outside. When it wasn’t, I made sure she had access to our doll carriages, to encourage indoor “walks.” We also played — and still do — hide-and-seek as well as other imaginative games that include running and moving. One of the easiest is freeze dance, which asks kids to dance until they hear the music go off. Another indoor favorite is family dance party, which gets kids up and moving. Bottom line: Aside from the trampoline, I didn’t need fancy equipment or have to spend a lot of time or money encouraging and fostering a love of movement and exercise. As I learned very quickly, kids want to move and will take your lead, so which path are you going to lead your children down today? I’d love to hear how you’re getting your kids moving indoors and out, especially since another study out of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found that kids who exercise more do better in school. Yet another reason to make sure kids are getting plenty of activity throughout the day.

Big Girl loves popcorn. LOVES it. She doesn’t get it very often because I have completely stopped using microwave popcorn. The reason: The chemical that coats the bags — perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) — is a likely carcinogen and will actually be phased out of all microwave popcorn bags completely by 2015. In my way of thinking if something is so dangerous that it’s being phased out, why should I take the chance of using it today, but I digress as usual. (You can read more about PFOA here.) My other alternative — making stovetop popcorn — didn’t work. It was sort of a pain. Popcorn made in a regular pot, in my opinion, always came out chewy and gross. Too much steam, I think.

Anyway, this holiday season I went in search of a popcorn machine with a few criteria:

• It had to be plastic-free
• It had to be simple to use and clean
• It had to be compact so it could be stowed away in my regular pots and pans drawer
• It had to be made anywhere EXCEPT China

I found what I was looking for with the Whirley-Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper. The unit comes in two pieces: an aluminum pot and a vented lid that has a stirring mechanism. The mechanism is connected to what looks like an upside down T shaped wire that extends from one side of the pot to the other. When you turn the crank, the wire spins, moving the popcorn so it doesn’t burn.

Before using it the first time, the instructions said to season the pot by heating a tablespoon of oil, letting it cool, and wiping it out. When it was time to actually pop popcorn, we followed the directions, adding one to three tablespoons (we added two) in addition to 1/2 cup of popcorn. The process was extremely easy and fun. We heated the pot on medium-high using an electric stove. (FYI: The directions say it works equally as well on a gas range.) As soon as we placed the pot on the stove, we started turning the handle. Soon after, the popcorn started popping. The entire process was done within three minutes — it was actually faster than using microwave popcorn, I think!

When the popcorn was done, we emptied it by lifting up what I call the pour flap and spilling it into a bowl. I was pleasantly surprised to see that every kernel popped, and none of the popcorn was burned. And how did it taste? The steam vents at the top of the lid let just enough steam out and kept just enough in so the popcorn was light, fluffy, and extremely tasty. (Note: We used Trader Joe’s Organic Popcorn kernels.)

Cleanup was a snap. Once the pot cooled down, I took a paper towel and wiped the pot as well as the lid and stirring mechanism. The manufacturer recommends wiping it out either every time or every four or five uses. You can also clean it with warm, soapy water, but the paper towel seemed to work fine for us.

My one complaint is that there’s no way to melt butter other than using the microwave or a separate pot on the stove. (And keep in mind that the manufacturer specifically notes that you should not use butter to pop corn since it can discolor the pot.) Butter aside, I would highly recommend the Whirley-Pop unit to anyone who is a popcorn fanatic or just likes making popcorn more than once or twice a year.

This lack of Christmas list is one of the things I am proud of when it comes to my kids for several reasons. First, because — at least until now — I have met all their needs. They have clothing, a roof over their heads, food. If they actually need something that they don’t have I can go out and buy it. There are unfortunately many people out there who can’t say the same. People who don’t have the means (for whatever reason) to meet their kids’ most basic needs. I think about those people often, especially at this time of year.

The second reason is that I think I am raising unspoiled kids. I often say that my kids are spoiled. There’s very little they don’t have — that’s true. However, they appreciate what they have and don’t ask for things they don’t really need. Take Big Girl. Unbeknownst to me all her classmates already have Lalaloopsy dolls. Big Girl didn’t run home and beg for one or badger me when we went to a store. She waited until I asked her if she wanted anything and then she told me. (I must admit that at these kids very, very rarely ask for anything when we are out shopping. Aside from having to corral the little one my shopping trips are relatively stress-free.) So yes, I am very proud that I am raising two kids who not only understand the value of money, but don’t expect toys and games and stuff just because.

How did I do it? I never got into the habit of buying just because. I always explained that things cost money and equated the thing with how many words I had to write or how many hours my husband had to work to buy whatever we were talking about — a new car, a jacket, another pack of crayons. I told them stories about my own childhood. I explained that I got clothing twice a year in September and at Christmastime. I impressed upon them that if they didn’t take care of their toys, they wouldn’t get replacements. I even let Big Girl “forget” her stuffed cat at a store. Yes, I saw it on the floor, but it was her responsibility, especially since I told her I didn’t think it was a good idea for it to leave the car. I’m not horrible, though. I grabbed it when she wasn’t looking and didn’t mention it until, at home, she started crying that Black Cat was gone. I then pretended to call the store and told her the store was mailing it back to us. And then I made her wait a few days to get it back. Mean? Maybe, but very useful. She remembers that experience to this day and cautions her little sister against bringing toys out of the house.

Anyway, I’m really proud of those kids and of the parenting that brought them to where we are now. They are a gift that keeps on giving every day of the year. And the fact that they get the difference between needs and wants? That’s just the ribbon on the package.