12 Real-Talk Steps for Choosing Your Child’s Halloween Costume

12 Real-Talk Steps for Choosing Your Child’s Halloween Costume

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Thanks, Pottery Barn, for ruining it for the rest of us.

Outfitting your kids for Trick-or-Treating can be intensely stressful. There’s nothing like putting 40 hours into a lovingly-crafted costume, only to have your child turn around and refuse to wear anything but the same store-bought Elsa dress as all her other classmates, or trying to figure out how to fulfill your toddler’s request for a tiger-Batman-unicorn. While there’s no way to actually child-proof the process, I hope the following tips can take some of the pain away and help everyone get more fun out of the season. Read more

Navigating the Nightmare of Nanny Taxes, Part 1: Staying Square with the IRS

Navigating the Nightmare of Nanny Taxes, Part 1: Staying Square with the IRS

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Photo by Peter Moons via Flickr

So you’ve decided to hire a nanny – congratulations! Whatever the reason that you’ve chosen one-on-one care for your child or children, bringing a nanny into your home is infinitely more complicated than taking the kiddos to daycare. I hope that I can help demystify the ins and outs of legally hiring and paying your household employees. Read more