Could your grandchild be a future celebrity chef or a world-class baker in waiting? Help transform your grandkids into tiny tastemakers by following these three simple tips. Use your space as a skill zone. It takes more than just a love of food to make delicious meals and treats, as cooking and baking put all five senses to the test. Helping in the kitchen enables small children to heighten their awareness of smells, tastes, sounds, and textures while learning new words. Having them measure ingredients and pour them into bowls is an easy way to refine their motor skills, and your guidance behind the counter will encourage them to follow directions. If your kitchen companion is a baby, you can still involve them by describing the sights, sounds, and smells surrounding them and letting them touch some of the food — all great tools to assist in developing their connection to the world. Kid-proof your meal prep. Before taking your grandchild on a culinary journey, check that their countertop travels
won’t endanger them. It’s obviously a big no-no to rest a sharp knife on a cutting board that small hands can reach, but little things like toothpicks can also pose a risk. If your small assistant is old enough to cut up ingredients, a plastic utensil will be less painful than steel if the blade misses its mark.
Keep family flavors flowing. Want to give your children and
grandchildren a meal memory they’ll never forget? Revive a family recipe, share its history with your grandkids, and have them help prepare the dish for the entire family! Holiday gatherings are great for sharing the details and delicacies that shaped your family’s history — and a wonderful opportunity to pass down those special traditions to the next generation. With the holidays upon us, now is a perfect time to introduce little ones to the joys of baking and cooking by turning your kitchen into a safe space for learning and bonding.
Kitchen Adventures: Kid Edition WHISKING UP FAMILY FUN
REVIEW AND REVISE The Importance of Updating Your Estate Plan SE
The end of the year is a great time to reflect, revise, and reprioritize, especially when it comes to your estate plan. What changes have you and your family experienced in the prior months? Are there new children, grandchildren, or relationships to consider? After the holidays have passed, you may be thinking of what your New Year’s resolutions should be. While reading more and losing weight might be great goals, there is definitely an objective you should have in mind: updating your estate plan. Why should I update my estate plan? An out-of-date estate plan can be a burdensome problem for the ones you leave behind. Without a proper, accurate plan in place, there is no guarantee your wishes will be carried out after you pass away. An updated estate plan can also provide your beneficiaries and loved ones peace of mind, and prevent your family from spending time scrambling to determine how things should be settled. You do not want to make your passing
any more difficult than it has to be: By making an estate plan that accurately reflects your wishes, you can make the transition easier.
What updates should be made? If you have acquired new property or other assets, or are in a new financial situation, accounting for that in your estate plan is necessary to ensure there are no surprises when your estate is being settled. Moreover, relationships change, and family dynamics shift, both of which should be reflected in how you distribute your estate. If the worst were to happen, and you or a loved one’s mental acumen declined, assigning medical and financial powers of attorney can help your family take better care of you and your estate in the difficult years ahead. Whatever your circumstances, updating your estate plan is a must as we enter a new year.
| 412-223-2525 2
ESTATE PLANNING | PROBATE | TRU
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator