1, 2, 3's

Well, it's that time again... tax preparation season. All I can say is thank god for inventing accountants. I used to do my taxes on my own and after all of the events of this past year... moving from MD to VA, selling investments to buy our new house, etc. I am so grateful that we have assistance - even of the paid variety!

Part of the reason is that I've come to realize that I now lack the ability to count past 10 - or maybe I can make it to 20 (after all most Sesame Street episodes feature a number of the day between 10 and 20 and I'm not ashamed to admit that I watch enough Sesame Street to know that!). I spend most of my days counting only to 3 for Jonah - how many trees do you see, how many grapes are left in the bowl, etc. So when our accountant and I spoke today and she started talking about fair market values (albeit in the form of an acronym - FMV), reinvested dividends, and capital gains and losses I found myself totally overwhelmed. Ahhhhhhhhh!

I've come to realize that being a mommy - really a parent of any variety - means starting your education all over again from scratch. Frankly, I'm looking forward to learning how to add, multiply and such again. And yes, dad, I remember that 9 times 7 is 63 and vice versa - thanks for grilling that one into my head! So let the counting begin and accountants beware... I will be back on your level in about 15-20 years.