February 28, 2007
Now why didn’t we think of this?
A woman admitted Monday that she coached her two children to fake retardation starting when they were 4 and 8 years old so she could collect Social Security benefits on their behalf.
They actually continued the ruse for close to 20 years and collected more than $280k in benefits. The woman in question, Rosie Costello, and her son (Pete, who feigned retardation into his mid-20s) entered into plea agreements for conspiracy to defraud the government and Social Security fraud and are awaiting sentencing.
Talk about low…
[Source: ABC News]
February 26, 2007
Update: Here’s info on the 2007 Child Tax Credit.
We’ve been getting a decent number of search hits for information on the 2006 Child Tax Credit. I’ve written about the Child Tax Credit in the past, but seeing as Tax Day is sneaking up on us, I thought I’d put together a fresh article with details based on current IRS guidance. [more]
In looking at our site stats, we’ve noticed that a number of people arrive here from search engines look for answers to fairly specific questions. In some cases, those answers can be found in one or more articles within our archives, but in other cases they can’t. Thus, we’ve decided to periodically pluck out some of these questions and spend a bit of time answering them.
Alternatively, if you have a question that you’d like for us to answer, please drop us a line. We love getting e-mail from readers, and we’re also always on the lookout for good article ideas. We can’t promise that we’ll tackle your question, but we’ll do our best to accommodate your interests.
As always, these articles will be categorized by subject matter, but they will also be cross-referenced in the Parenting Q&A category.
February 23, 2007
“Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.” -Roger Lewin
February 22, 2007
Raising4Boys participated in three carnivals this week. Here they are along with our posts that were included in each.
The Carnival of Family Life included “Preschool Registration Madness.”
The Best of Me Symphony included “How to Take Responsibility When You’re Four.” Also included was “How to Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft” from fivecentnickel.com.
This just in from the Department of Homeland Security…
The Bush administration is expected to announce on Thursday that it will exempt children from new rules that will require people to show passports when entering the U.S. at land or sea borders.
In case you haven’t heard, new passport restrictions that went into effect in late January require a passport when entering this country from North, Central, or South America as well as the Carribean (and Bermuda). Previously, U.S. and Canadian citizens were allowed to enter the U.S. from select countries if they presented a birth certificate or driver’s license, and some Mexicans could enter without a passport if they had a special border crossing card.
Under the expected announcement, kids 15 and under will be allowed to cross the borders at land and sea entry points with a certified copy of their birth certificates rather than passports. Moreover, kids aged 16-18 traveling with school, religious, cultural or athletic groups and under adult supervision will be allowed to travel with only their birth certificates.
Children entering the U.S. by air will still have to show passports, which means that the passports that we just applied for on behalf of our kids won’t go to waste…
[Source: NPR]
(Hat tip to my lovely and talented wife for finding this.)
February 21, 2007
Here’s an interesting tidbit… It seems that kids who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight and have higher BMIs than those who get more. Sleep experts recommend that kids ages 5 to 12 sleep for 10 or 11 hours a night, and adolescents sleep for 8 to 9 hours. However, researchers found that 7 year olds average less than 10 hours of sleep on weekdays, whereas 14 years olds get an average of 8.5 hours of sleep. [more]
February 20, 2007
As if Son #4 needed another huge milestone to pass… He just moved out of his crib and gave up his pacifier, and then I started potty training him four days ago. He’s 27 months old, which is a little young for a boy, so I decided from the start that if he resisted at all, I would back off and wait a month or two. Fortunately, he has been totally compliant and enthusiastic. [more]
February 18, 2007
