Last week, a Santa Monica Mom answered the door to the police after a neighbor tattle-tailed on her for leaving her 18-month strapped in his carseat while she ran in the house to retrieve her cell phone. Today's article goes into detail about the incident and why it plays out across L.A. everyday, even though it probably shouldn't.
What is your take on the issue? Vote in our poll.
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In a show of Mom power, Momsrising.org is crashing the Presidential candidate debates in California this week to spread the message that millions of U.S. kids have no health insurance. Momsrising members plan to hold up baby onesies embellished with slogans like: “I ♥ Healthcare’’ and “I’m Worth the Effort’’ as candidates file into Hollywood’s Kodak Theater tomorrow afternoon. For more info, see http://www.momsrising.org. ]]>
Olivia Green has been running Green's 24 Hour Family Child Care in the Crenshaw District (323-293-1991) for 25 years. But she has seen demand for 24-hour care grow in recent years as a result of more parents working nontraditional shifts. "One parent works at the police station, or the TSA or convalescent homes or hopsitals that are 24/7,'' she said.
Figuring out child care to accommodate such schedules is tough, but more 24-hour operations are opening to meet the need. Julie Mismailova started offering overnight services at Happyland, her family day care in Granada Hills four years ago. "I work 24/7, any day, any time.''
Here are a few more 24-hour child care resources: Penny & Peggy Nairn 24-Hour Child Care (2 locations in North Hills)
Happyland 818-832-6788
And two more in South Los Angeles:
Precious Little Heartbeat
Here's another one from the only in L.A. category: FreshMommy.com will deliver six organic mini meals a day (one of those is dessert) AND send over a personal trainer, all with the goal of getting you back into pre-baby shape. The concept has some loveable quirks, which all add to the cost. There are bonus meals for Dad, credits for "lifestyle enhancements,'' like a chiropractor, and even personal concierge services. If you can afford it, being a fresh Mommy sounds downright decadent. Packages start at $3,895.
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I don't know about you, but I have failed so far to find a free, or at least cheap, way to do background checks on potential babysitters. I have even asked for several sitters' addresses and driver's license numbers (I think asking for a social number is a little much). But I haven't had much success getting anywhere with that info.
There are tons of Web sites that will run security checks on people, but most of them seem to cost around $49. Here's one recommended by a subscriber to Jen Levinson's list: www.childcarecheck.com.
84 percent of freshman say parents are involved enough but not too involved in their decision to go to college, according to UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute survey, released today.
The annual study is based on responses from 272,000 full-time freshman students
at 356 colleges and universities nationwide.
Other interesting results: While about 20 percent of whites report "too little" involvement from parents, 43 percent of Latino students report "too little" involvement. "This is a real concern, because Hispanics and Latinos historically have had the largest proportion of first-generation college students, and the process of applying to college is unfamiliar to these parents," said Sylvia Hurtado, a co-author of the report and director of the Higher Educational Research Institute.
Freshman support for same-sex marriages has expanded steadily, from 50.9 percent 1997 to
63.5 percent in 2007. The issue, however, reveals a wide gender gap: 55.3 percent of male
freshmen report that same-sex couples should have the right to legal marital status, compared
with 70.3 percent of female students. Gender differences appear on other issues, as well:
More than half of all males (53.7 percent) agree with the statement that undocumented
immigrants should be denied access to public education, compared with 43.5 percent of all
female students; 43.3 percent of males and 39.2 percent of females at black colleges agreed.
Tom Breedlove, partner at Breedlove & Associates wrote me today in response to the nanny tax story. He said there is another tax break available to most families that is about twice as lucrative as the Child or Dependent Care Tax Credit. Anyone with a Flexible Spending Account (also called a Dependent Care Account) can pay for up to $5,000 of childcare expenses with pre-tax dollars. Depending on the tax bracket of the family, this saves $2,000 to $2,300 per year. If you have two children, you still have $1,000 remaining, which you can itemize under the Child or Dependent Care Tax Credit and save another $200 on your tax bill. Bottom line: about 80% of US families have access to Flexible Spending Account...those families can pay a nanny about $25,000 - $27,000 per year and break even on employer tax costs (employer tax costs exceed the tax breaks once you pay your nanny more than that threshold).
Tom's company specializes in nanny payroll and tax services. It manages the payroll taxes, quarterly tax filings and year-end paperwork. Go to Breedlove Associates.
Here's my article about the nuts and bolts of the nanny tax.
THE FACTS:
• A nanny taking care of your children in your home – whether full or part time – is your employee.
• If you pay your nanny more than $1,500 a year, you are required to withhold and pay Social Security, Medicare and unemployment taxes.
• If the IRS discovers that the income has not been filed and taxes have not been paid, the employer could be on the hook for the taxes, disability and unemployment. For a nanny making $600 a week, the social security taxes alone would add up to about $25,000 over five years, and that doesn’t include penalties and interest.
• Most nanny tax evasion is caught as part of a larger audit, or when a nanny is fired or hurt on the job and goes to the state for compensation.
Sources: Internal Revenue Service; Daily News research
SITES:
www.irs.gov/publications/p926/index.html (Household Employers Tax Guide)
www.nannynetwork.com/NannyTax/index.cfm
www.4nannytaxes.com
This is an unbelievable story that a Santa Monica Mom sent to Jen Levinson and she then circulated on her list. I plan to look into it further and see what other rules about parenting I'm ignorant of. After all, I didn't realize I was living in a totalitarian state where neighbors spy on one another until I read this from a Mom. Read it and weep:
Earlier today I was rushing like most to get out of the house with my son and realized after I pulled out of our garage I left my cell phone on my coffee table. I pulled up to the back of our home in the ally (our front door is 25 feet from the ally) and ran into the house to retrieve it and left him in the car with the doors locked and windows up. I was gone for LITERALLY about 45 seconds and returned to the car and sped off. I took him to the park. Apparently, while I ran inside of my home, my license plate was noted by a neighbor and called into theSanta Monica Police Department for Child neglect and endangerment. The Santa Monica Police Dept proceeded to interview 3 out of 4 of my neighbors about my ability to parent while I was out at the park. They came with a long list of questions and concerns and shared them with my neighbors. So unaware of this, at about 3PM, as I was playing with my son on the couch, the Santa Monica Police Dept shows up at my door letting me know that they had a report called in for child neglect and they had to investigate us and child protective service would be involved. At this point I am frozen in fear, teary and shaking with the police in my living room accusing me of being a bad parent and scaring the !@#$ out of me. Freaking out I of pleaded my case not knowing that this is illegal. I knew it was wrong when I ran into the house and left Cooper but not illegal. I was given a notice type citation and had to call the SGT of the Santa Monica police Dept and plead my case. After review they have decided to not file a report and send it into Social Services. I just want you all to know you never know who is watching and that small errand in the store or that quick trip back into the house or post office, coupled with someone who has nothing better to do is a dangerous combination. All they need is a license plate number to track you down and scare the !@#$ out of you. Please be warned and I hope nobody ever has to go through this.
For the first time since 1971, the U.S. birthrate pushed past a crucial theshhold -- the level at which a given generation can replace itself. According to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control, women aged 15-44 delivered 4.3 healthy babies in 2006, a two percent increase and the highest birthrate in 45 years.
An Associated Press report said factors for the boomlet include a decline in contraceptive use, a drop in access to abortion, poor education and poverty.
But it also attributed the growth to population growth, especially among Hispanics, who as a group have higher fertility rates.
" We are the only people who respond to prosperity by saying, `Let's have another kid,'" said Nan Marie Astone, associate professor of population, family and reproductive health at Johns Hopkins University.
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First a disclaimer -- this is an online poll, not a scientific survey, and the results are based on 55 votes. But still, the findings shock me! Of 55 respondents (as of today) to date, 21 of you pay above $16 an hour. Another 13 people pay $14 and $16, and eight said they plunk down $11 to $13 an hour. Seven parents pay $8 to $10 an hour, and five people hand their babysitter more than $20. I think I’m in the wrong business.
I got a few emails from parents saying that $16 and up is not an outrageous price for quality care. I agree that when it comes to your children, bargain hunting for care seems wrong. However, is it really reasonable that a parent should have to pay almost $50 above the actual meal to go grab dinner?
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I'm kind of a Luddite -- if my husband would go for it, I would live without a TV, and I'd prefer that my kids not log on until they are in middle school. I realize that probably won't fly in the United States of 2008.
But I felt somewhat vindicated when I started reading a fascinating new study by Sesame Workshop.
The research finds that out of 69 video games marketed as educational, only two feature traditional educational content (literacy, math and science). The report, D is for Digital, calls for the development of more content that is truly educational.
Other findings: children beginning to use electronic gadgets at age 6.7, as opposed to age 8.1 in 2005 and they are increasingly multitasking, packing 8 ½ hours of media consumption into 6 ½ hours. And parents? The accept that their kids have become consumers of digital media, and a majority say video games are a positive aspect of their children's lives. See the complete study: www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/pdf/DisforDigital.pdf
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MySpace announced an agreement with 49 state governments to make changes on its popular Web site to protect younger users from online predators. Within the next few months, the site says it will make profiles of all 14- and 15-year-olds permanently private, and will default the profiles of 16- and 17-year olds to private.
It also says it will delete registered sex offenders from the site.
Industry watchers welcome the changes, but say they fall short because they don’t address the problem of kids – or predators – lying about their age or identity.
By Barbara Correa
The business of caring for and educating preschool children generates $1.9 billion a year for the local economy and employs more than 65,000 people, according to a study released Monday by Los Angeles Universal Preschool, the Los Angeles County Child Care Planning Committee and the city of Los Angeles.
The study projects that early child care and education will create the sixth highest number of new jobs in Los Angeles County through 2016.
Auxiliary services connected to day care and preschool include clerical staff, social workers, bus drivers, food service workers, all of whom contribute back to the local economy, the study said.
"That's more than is employed in computer and electronics manufacturing," said Jack Kyser, chief economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. and a panelist at an event presenting the findings. "People think that child care is a net outflow, but it does recirculate money into the economy."
National and state studies have shown that the child-care industry is important, but this report is unique in that it focuses specifically on Los Angeles County.
"We didn't know that this (industry) is $1.9 billion," said Randi Wolfe, director of workforce development at Los Angeles Universal Preschool, a public corporation formed in 2004 and funded by a tax on tobacco. "I didn't even know if it would be in the top 20. That means jobs and the question becomes how do we train these people and how do we set things up?"
Wolfe said L.A. County is home to about 1 million children from birth to 13 who need before- and after-school care, and there are just 250,000 licensed slots in day cares, preschools and before- and after-school programs for those kids.
She acknowledged that funding the expansion of that number is an uphill battle, especially with the budget trouble the state faces. But Wolfe said support is growing for more child care.
"The presidential candidates are talking about it. Hillary came out with a plan recently. ... For every dollar we spend (on early child care and education), we save $2.62 on jails, mental health services, juvenile delinquency. The benefits of a good early care and education experience ends up costing taxpayers less in the end," she said.
For more on work, family and parenting in L.A., go to www.insidesocal.com/momspace/
The third annual Baby Boom Room kicked off Friday with a few brave celebrity parents trolling the penthouse rooms at the Century Plaza Hotel in search of cool new products for their babies and kids. The star wattage wasn't quite as bright as promised (we missed Scott Baio), but there sure were a lot of cool products.
Evan Handler (Californication, Sex & the City) was checking out Moby wraps with his wife and one-year-old daughter Sofia. He said his product essentials are pacifiers and leggings, which little Sofia loves to sleep in. Carnie Wilson's three-year-old daughter Lola has a Strawberry Shortcake obsession -- too bad there wasn't any at this show. "She's obsessed,'' said Wilson. "She has the toothbrush holder, the sheets, she falls asleep to the DVDs every night.'' I caught up with Wilson browsing the booth for Blessence, a line of maternity T-shirts embelished with celeb-friendly slogans like "Adoption Is the New Pregnant.''
Some of the most original products -- for the kid/parent who has everything -- were necklaces that double as teething rings (www.smartmomjewelry.com), Happy Heiny's (www.happyheinys.com), makers of modern cloth diapers, a kid's spa offering a chocolate facial (www.spadidala.com) and over the top custom-painted wagons by West Coast Wagons (www.westcoastwagons.com). L.A. parents Tiffany and Duane Nelson started the company three years ago when they discovered that their daughter, born with cerebral palsy, could only get comfortable enough to nap when she was in a wagon. They souped up the rig with a CD player and sun roof, and a business was born.
Custom wagons range from about $200 range for a painted, jewel-studded princess wagon to an $1,800 Hummer wagon fully loaded with a DVD player. The Nelsons made a skull-design wagon inscribed with the names of Brad and Angelina's brood. When Tiffany Nelson cornered Brad at last year's Golden Globes and asked him how he liked it, the superstar said "That wagon kicks a** it's the collest thing I've ever seen.''
Other kid-catering startups launched in the last year or two -- no-squeeze juice box holders (www.squeeze-free.com), lice-repellant shampoo (www.socozy.com), knee pads for crawling babies (www.silikids.com) and ergonomic diaper bags (www.gogagalife.com) -- reflect the exploding market for kid products that make busy parents' lives a little easier. The fact that Tom & Katie and Brad & Angelina and Ben & Jennifer have made having kids trendy only helps. "I don't know if stars are having more babies,'' said Betsi Schumacher, at the Baby boom room to promote a new BPA-free sippy cup callled Foogo. "But with Celebrity Baby Blog, it's the hype.''
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