Free Summer Reading Programs at the Library

My son and I went to our local library yesterday to sign up for their free summer reading program. For kids his age, the goal is to read 140 minutes a week, or 20 minutes a day. Every week that he completes this goal, he gets a coupon for a free kids meal at Pizza Hut or a ice cream cone at McDonald’s or a movie ticket. At the end of the 6 week program, if he has completed it successfully, he gets a book.

This provides a good opportunity for us to spend some good reading time together and to visit the library more often. To my surprise, they even have a program for babies, so I signed my daughter up. At the end of the program, she gets a free book (which at this stage, she will probably just want to eat!).

Have you checked out your local library to see what free summer programs are available?

I shared this post at Works for Me Wednesdays.

My Costly Four Day Mistake

I received a phone call yesterday from the hospital where I delivered telling me they were having trouble processing the bill for my daughter because the insurance company said my baby was not on their list of insured. I immediately called my place of employment and was told I needed to fill out a form to add her to my insurance. I went to my job within two hours of that phone call and filled out the form.

Today I learned that my employer has denied coverage of the baby. Why? It says in our contract that an employee must add dependents within 31 days of the baby’s birth. I filled out the form on day 35. This is a policy my employer implements; the insurance company does not. My employer can choose to waive the deadline, but chose not to. I honestly did not know I had to fill out this form. I somehow thought the insurance would just add her on based on the delivery at the hospital. Looking at it now, I can see that this was a naïve thing to think.

I understand that my employer is abiding by the laws of the contract, but I am just sick about this. We will now have to pay for hospital bills for my daughter related to the birth, four doctors’ appointments, and one blood draw. Not to mentions that she is currently uninsured and I have to scramble to find health insurance for her. (She won’t be covered by my employer’s insurance until January 1, 2011.) This is going to be a huge financial hit. We have a healthy emergency fund, but I see it being partly depleted because of this oversight.

It's Been a Crazy Month!

Today Delaney turns one month old. She is getting so big and has already outgrown several of her 0-3 month clothes. I am enjoying this time as I know it will be the last time we have a newborn baby.

In the month since her birth, our house has gone a bit crazy. The first two weeks were uneventful. Then, we all started getting sick. We, as a family, have not been sick in quite a long time, so it is odd we all started getting different ailments. I had strep throat, and the first batch of medicine apparently didn't kill it all because it came back and I am on medicine again.

My husband got strep throat from me.

Then, my son, who has allergies and was on Zyrtec, got pink eye from his allergies. Because Zyrtec was recalled and he couldn't take it, he started feeling miserable again. Then he got a staph infection. (He got these frequently a few years ago, but hasn't had them since he was 3.)

Yesterday, my husband and 18 month old daughter came down with a funky stomach bug. Yes, all of this in the last two weeks. I think we have visited the doctor more in two weeks than we did in the last year and a half!

So, here is hoping that everything settles down and we can focus on Delaney and enjoying this gorgeous summer weather.