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February 2018
WHAT'S CHANGED? Normally in February, our family of three heads down to Florida to visit my dad and attend a conference for my husband’s company. This happens during Presidents Day weekend and is always a good getaway. We are able to see family, visit a slightly warmer climate than ours, and my husband, Josh, gets work done too. Plus, we have my dad to watch Jacob while Josh and I go out for Valentine’s Day! In years past, this has worked out great. Now, Jacob is in first grade. It’s an exciting time, but it also makes traveling harder. We can’t just get up and go whenever Josh and I have time off. We have to consider whether it’s worth it for Jacob to miss school days. Would it be better to save that time for a different trip, possibly to somewhere farther away? We got out the notebook and started doing the pro-con debate. It’s a change, to be sure. Then again, isn’t that what family does? Like any living thing, as a family grows, it also changes. And that change can be good. The last time we got down to Florida over winter break/Christmas, I was so impressed with my brother, Paco, and his relationship with his little nephew. Paco is 17 now, so he is practically an adult, and he acts like one. He’s thoughtful, mature, and loves spending time with Jacob. They play and talk together, and Paco is great with kids. He’s patient when Jacob just has to show him this or that toy and likes making Jacob laugh. As Paco heads into the next stage in his life, I’m glad to know he’s taking kindness and patience with him. He’s someone I’m glad my son is looking up to. As you can imagine, Jacob loves Paco. We’re happy watching Jacob grow and change, too. He’s self- sufficient, carrying his own backpack during travel and getting out his own snacks. He’s also developing his own likes, dislikes, and relationships along the way — just like the rest of us. And I’m very glad he’s close with my younger brother. I don’t know whether or not we’re heading to Florida yet, but I do know this is a sign of changes to come. As our family grows up, and things change, we’ll learn to embrace it. And hey, maybe we can take an extra-long vacation in 2018, if we don’t go to Florida.
–Meliha Perez Halp ern
See? Change can be good!
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Education in the Kitchen What Your Child Can Learn From
Baking
CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING Cuisine is a fundamental part of every culture. Introducing your child to dishes from around the world will expand their horizons. Want your child to be a less picky eater? Involving them in the cooking process is the surest way to get them excited about trying new flavors and ingredients. cookies will encourage greater nutritional awareness, but hear us out. Sugar is often buried within packaged foods. When you bake something at home, a child gets to see, firsthand, just how much sugar goes into certain sweets. Meanwhile, cooking savory dishes also allows them to learn what constitutes a balanced, healthy diet. NUTRITION Now, you might not think that baking
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, you’re probably wracking your brain for the perfect recipe to bake for your loved one. There’s nothing wrong with store-bought chocolate, but there’s no topping the personal touch of some homemade baked goods. If you have kids, baking alongside them can be just as rewarding as enjoying the fruits of your labor. As an added bonus, baking is a hands-on opportunity where your child can learn all sorts of important concepts. Here is a short list of some of the educational lessons hiding in your kitchen. MATH Baking is a numbers game. Just take a look at any recipe, and you’ll recognize the importance of math in building a beautiful cake. Having children measure
out ingredients helps them learn about fractions and ratios. You can also test your kids by doubling or halving a recipe for multiplication and division practice. With older kids, practice unit conversions by asking, for example, how many pints are in half a gallon. FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS Not unlike computer science, baking requires a strict order of operations. The wet and dry ingredients often need to be mixed separately and then folded together. It only takes one deviation from the instructions for a pastry to go from delicious to disgusting. Spending time in the kitchen, then, is a great way for kids to learn the importance of reading directions carefully and comprehending what they’ve just read.
COATS + CAR SEATS = DANGER! All of us want to protect our kids. As a mother, I only want the best for my son, and I’d do anything to keep him safe. But what happens when we try to keep our kids safe and end up putting them at risk, instead? Unfortunately, it’s very possible to do. One too-common situation like this involves winter coats in child car seats. The solution is a simple one. You take the child’s coat off, put the child into the seat, tighten the harness, and then lay the coat over them. This way, the coat lies on top of the harness and doesn’t put the child in danger. Easy, right?
I’d love to share that knowledge with you, and I’d love to know that it’s making the world a little safer.
We all want to do well for our children. That includes keeping them warm during the cold months and keeping them safe in a car. But unfortunately, it’s not always that simple. And if you didn’t know there was a danger, you wouldn’t know to take the coat off before putting the child in the seat. If you have any questions about car seats or other safety issues, please get ahold of me. One benefit of being a personal injury attorney is that I know a lot about this stuff.
Not many people know about this danger, but as an attorney working in the personal injury field, I stay up-to-date on these sorts of things. In this case, the problem is simple. Car seats have safety harnesses, but they only work if they’re fitted snugly. When you put one over a child wearing a puffy winter coat, it leaves wiggle room. And if your child can wiggle, they can be injured or killed if a collision or accident occurs.
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What’s the ‘Value’ in a Diminished Value Claim?
sudoku including every used auto dealer — will use the internet to find out if the car has ever been in an accident. Fortunately, if your car is damaged in an accident, but not totaled, you can make a diminished value claim against the insurance company You go to check out a used car. It looks like it’s in great shape, drives well, and the price is right. Then the seller mentions it was involved in a major accident two years ago. Will that information change how much money you’d offer? Of course it will. Just having been in an accident, a car loses value and not just in the eyes of the beholder. We’re talking about real, hard dollars. Even if everything’s in great shape now , the car will be followed and tainted by that history forever. These days, almost all buyers —
of the at-fault driver. This sort of claim covers the lower blue-book value of your vehicle due to the accident. Unfortunately, diminished value claims are very hard to win. Instead of following a process, as you might with other claims, diminished value claims are much more of a negotiation. The insurance company can be talked into giving more money if you do everything right, but they can also run you into the ground. In addition, the laws around these claims vary state by state. For example, in Virginia, you can file a claim up to five years after the accident. But in Maryland, you can only do so up to three years later. Insurance companies love to turn these claims down, and they’ll use any loophole they have to do it.
But you have to try, right? Otherwise, you’re out hard dollars. The potential for diminished claims to help people with damaged vehicles is tremendous, but the path to success can be a minefield. We’re here to answer questions if you have them and help in any way we can.
Polvorones (Powdered Cookies)
Ingredients • 2 1/2 cups flour • cup butter •
cup Crisco shortening
• cup sugar • 1 tablespoon almond extract • Nonpareil sprinkles
Directions 1. Heat oven to 350 F. 2. In a deep bowl, cream butter and Crisco. Add sugar slowly and mix well. Add almond extract and mix well. Add flour in small portions until the mix is hard to stir. 3. Form dough into small balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press the center of each ball to make a small well and fill each well with sprinkles. 4. Bake for 15–20 minutes or until golden. Do not overbake. Cool and serve.
http://www.ricanrecipes.com/recipes/detail.php?category_id=9&id=137
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inside What’s Changed? PAGE 1
Find us on Facebook! Perez Halpern, LLC
Cook Your Way to Better Grades PAGE 2
Coats + Car Seats = Danger! PAGE 2
Diminished Value 101 PAGE 3
Polvorones (Powdered Cookies) Recipe PAGE 3
Exercise for 2 PAGE 4
Contact me for all of your auto accident and personal injury needs!
Fall in Love With Fitness Through Dance
When you get ready to exercise, the last thing you probably think to wear is a bow tie or evening dress. If that’s the case, then it’s time to broaden your approach to fitness and step out onto the dance floor. The wide world of dance might hold the secret to exercise that you — and your partner — will actually enjoy! Whether you enjoy a romantic waltz, an intimate salsa, or a fun swing, dance promises a full-body workout. Your legs, glutes, back, core, and even arms are engaged when you feel the music. A study from the University of Brighton in England found that dance can burn 600 calories per hour, depending on the intensity of the dance, which is as much as running for an hour! In addition to toning your muscles, dancing also improves balance and coordination. Your brain is engaged as you memorize the steps and spins, a health perk you miss when you’re on the treadmill or lifting weights. Don’t have a partner willing to join you on the dance floor? No problem! Many dance classes anticipate having solo students and arrange for partners to cycle through, so everyone has the opportunity to practice. Of course, ballroom dance isn’t your only option for a fun workout. If relying on a partner isn’t your style, there are plenty of other dance genres you can groove to. Consider trying K-pop (Korean pop music), Zumba, hip-hop, ballet, tap, and even belly dancing, if you’re feeling adventurous.
With dance, exercise becomes an activity you look forward to. You no longer need to treat exercise as a dreaded chore week after week. Even if you have two left feet, remember that dancing is an acquired skill. With a willingness to learn, over time, you could dance circles around Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Get your groove on today and search for dance studios in your area, look for lessons at your local community center, or find instructional videos online and bust a move right in your living room. When it comes to dance, if you’re having fun and moving, you’re doing it right.
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