81 posts tagged “joys of fatherhood”
Here is another deep conversation with Miriam.
We had to buy her extra stainless steel water and milk bottles for her school lunches. She lost one and we bought a few extras. Last night over dinner we had this conversation:
Miriam: "Mommy bought me new cups."
Daddy: "That's right!"
Miriam: "You buy me presents and mommy buys me cups."
And that is how kids grow up spoiled these days.
As I was driving Miriam from the school last night the sun was shining in her face. Here is the conversation we had:
Miriam: "There is too much light on my nose"
Daddy: "Do you mean the sun is shining on your face?"
Miriam: "No, the sun is shining on my nose and my nose is shining on my face."
Daddy: "Ok, but it is the sun and there is nothing we can do about it. You can cover your eyes with your hands if you want."
Five minutes later:
Miriam: "I want to kick the sun with my foot"
Daddy: "That's not nice to kick things with your feet, but just this once you can try kicking the sun with your foot."
When we got home:
Miriam: "I want to kick the sun with my foot."
Daddy: "Ok, but that's it, no more kicking"
She tries to kick, that obviously doesn't work, and the evening of the whining toddler begins. We later found out she was sick with fever and just about everything was making her cranky.
We put them away for her college education.
When she was born we opened up a 529 account with NJBest as well as a Treasury bond account with US Treasury. We also have a brokerage account.
We liquidated and closed her 529 a few weeks ago after it suffered some losses in the stock market. I reviewed the available investment options and realized that NJBest is not prudently managed. One thing I noticed was that their portfolio for a 17 year old is at least 30-40% in equities. At 17 the kid is either in college or a year or two away from entering it and having that much in stock is waaaay too much risk. With such a short horizon one wants to see a more stable investment configuration. When I say "prudent management" I mean being conscious of the markets and the time horizon and making tough decisions. NJBest is an epic failure at that. Even tax-deferred it makes no sense.
So, we decided to manage Miriam's college savings on our own. We liquidated and closed her 529, moved money out, matched the stock market losses out of our savings, and placed her portfolio with the US Treasury (for now). When rates on other investments improve we may reshuffle.
We were trying to reward Miriam for being a good girl at the doctor's office by taking her to her favorite eatery -- a diner -- where she can eat pancakes with maple syrup. Here is a conversation between me, Anna and Miriam after Miri's doctor's visit today as we were trying to decide on which diner we go to:
Anna: Let's go to Omega because there might be a long line at PJ's today.
Miriam: No, PJ's, don't be a long line -- be a diner!
Me: "Who is that on the quarter?"
Miriam: "George Washington's head"
Me: "George Washington was our first president."
Miriam: "No, Barack Obama! Wait for your turn, George Washington!"
If a half-Kenyan, half-American guy with big ears and "Hussein" for his middle name can become a president of the United States of America it means a girl born to Jewish immigrants can accomplish that too.
Miriam (at 6 am): Let's go to the playground with daddy!
Anna: But Miri, it is too dark outside. Daddy will need a flashlight.
Miriam: Daddy go find a flash light and take Miriam to the playground!
Last weekend:
Daddy: "Can I wipe your nose?"
Miriam: "Miriam needs a different nose."
Yesterday, first thing after waking up Miriam declared: "Mommy is not a turtle, mommy is a person."
