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IN THIS ISSUE:
Message from Kathy| Announcements | Calendar
MBF in the News | Client Corner | The Counselor's Column
Tax Tips From Breedlove and Assoicates | Ask the Expert
Living Order | MBF Superstars | What Clients are Saying
Serving the Community

A Message From Kathy

Happy New Year!

MBF is contributing $25 of every client membership fee to a charity that positively impacts the lives of local children in the community. This represents an exciting step forward for us. For many years, the staff at each of our offices has adopted its own local charity and volunteered its time with them. Given our success in recent years, however, we now find ourselves in a place where we want to share even more, bringing each of our member clients directly on board with our core mission of serving children and families.

Our new charity program will accomplish this by allowing each new member client to choose from several nonprofits handpicked by local MBF staff (see www.momsbestfriend.com/charities for a complete list). Whichever of the three charities the client most supports will be the charity to which Mom's Best Friend will make a donation.  

Because it truly is all about the kids, the staff at MBF expect our new charity program to do a tremendous amount of good for children in each of our local communities. You can help by spreading the word to friends in order to maximize these dollars. We hope that this program can fully demonstrate our thanks to local families for all the confidence they have placed in us in past years and for many years to come!

If you are interested in learning more, I discuss this exciting new program further on our company blog: www.mbfagency.com/blog.

Kathy Dupuy, Founder and Owner

Your Sitter May Be Covered by Your Employee Benefits Package!

Book a Valentine's Sitter and Get a Discount on Future Services
It's time to book your Valentine's Day sitter! Our gift certificates are also a perfect way to show you care! Mom's Best Friend is offering a $10 discount on $100 gift certificates if you purchase it when you book your Valentine's Day sitter (Mention Code: NDGCV08).Contact lindsey.hudson@momsbestfriend.com.  

Top 3 Uses for Sitter Gift Certificates:

1. Paired with a spa certificate for a day of child-free pampering
2. A promise for future date nights
3. Much needed sanity breaks!

Don't Forget to Book the Sitter!
Many of our clients have found it extremely valuable to be receive a weekly "Book a Best Friend" email reminding them to book date nights, meetings, social commitments, sporting events, etc. This allows them to not only have peace of mind, but to have sitter consistency, and it helps Mom's Best Friend to be as successful as possible in booking you a sitter. If you'd like to opt in for a Monday reminder email, please email lindsey.hudson@momsbestfriend.com with the subject line REMINDER.  

Please Take Note of the Pricing Changes in Effective
Mom's Best Friend has made several pricing changes that became effective January 5, 2008. These changes have been made to help us to continue to attract a wonderful group of highly screened caregivers, and to further simplify the billing process for you. Please view the Current Price List for complete details.  

February 14 Valentine's Day: Don't forget to book a sitter early!

March 14-24 Spring Break!! Don't forgot to arrange any childcare needed

Mom's Best Friend Voted Best Babysitting Service
Mom's Best Friend continues to earn recognition for our level of service and caliberof candidates across cities. DallasChild and FortWorthChild both announced Mom's Best Friend as the Best Babysitting Service in their January, 2008 Annual Best for Families Reader's Poll.

Supernanny Finalists are Truly Mom's Best Friend
Mom's Best Friend was featured in the December, 2007 issue of Austin Woman Magazine . Following is an excerpt, "With only 10% of applicants making it through the hiring process, this agency can ensure that kids and parents are receiving the best care out there."

Nontraditional Child Care: The 24/7 Solution
Kim Winblood, owner of Dallas and Fort Worth Mom's Best Friend Quoted in the November 27, 2007 issue of Dallas Child.

Ari Brown, M.D., a Mom's Best Friend Nanny Client, is an Austin pediatrician and author of the popular parenting books, Baby 411 and Toddler 411, and a client of MBF since 1999.

Passionate about advocating for kids, Brown is a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics and advisor for Parents Magazine.  She has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CNN, Dr. Phil, and ABC News.  

Baby 411 covers everything for baby’s first year—from spit up and poop to sleeping through the night. Toddler 411 helps parents keep their sanity through toilet training, picky eaters, and temper tantrums. Books are available at major bookstores and at www.baby411.com.

The Holidays are over and the kids are calm, settled and back to their routine, right? It feels like this should be so, yet the transition has become more difficult than anticipated. So what does it take to get back into the balance for the New Year? Please take a look at the full article for a thorough explanation of how to revamp and simplify the daily routines and family patterns that build productive behaviors, and lifelong relationships and skills in your children.

Q

A: Yes, there are two tax break options available to household employers – but they are only available to those who pay their employee(s) legally.

• Option 1: Dependent Care Account. If you, or your spouse, have access to a Dependent Care Account (a.k.a. Flexible Spending Account) through your office, your family will be able to use pre-tax dollars for up to $5,000 of childcare expenses per year. Translation: that $5,000 of your income will be completely free of income taxes and employment taxes (Social Security & Medicare), saving you between $2,100 and $2,300 per year depending on your tax bracket.
• Option 2: Tax Credit. If you do not have access to a Dependent Care Account, you can take advantage of the Child or Dependent Care Tax Credit. This tax break allows you to itemize up to $3,000 of dependent care expenses per dependent ($6,000 maximum per family per year) on Form 2441 when you prepare your personal income tax return. More than likely, your tax credit on those itemized expenses will be 20%, so you’ll save $600 if you have one child or $1,200 if you have two or more children.

If managed correctly, the tax breaks for families can offset – sometimes even exceed – the tax costs associated with paying legally. Plus, your employee will get access to important benefits such as Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment Insurance, Earned Income Credit, and the ability to borrow money.

If you meet all the comliance requirements before the 2007 tax returns are due (April 15), you will be able to get your tax credit on your 2007 tax returns. Going forward into 2008 and beyond, we recommend looking into the Dependent Care Account option through your office (or your spouse’s office) since it usually yields a greater tax savings.

Founded in 1992 — by household employers for household employers — Breedlove & Associates has served more than 10,000 clients and processed more than $1 billion in household payroll.  By focusing on the unique needs of household employers, Breedlove & Associates’ expertise and efficiency has been  recognized in The Wall Street Journal, Kiplinger’s, Business Week and SmartMoney.com. For more information or a free phone consultation compliments of MBF Agency, call 1-888-273-3356 or visit www.breedlove-online.com.

Absolutely! My remedy might seem a bit challenging at first but, in the long run, I think you’ll thank me.

For years now, I have been conducting monthly one-on-ones (click here for a sample One-On-One outline) with all of the staff here at MBF, as well as with my own household staff. Since MBF makes every client’s replacement guarantee contingent on completing evaluation forms for the first three to four months of employment, you may already do this in some form if you are sharing these with your nanny as you complete them and send them to the agency. However, I also know how easy it is for the focus of these meetings to shift directly to discussions of household operations, where it is likely to remain. When this happens, however, what you may miss is an ideal opportunity to monitor your employee’s level of satisfaction, and any early signs of dissatisfaction.

Therefore, I think it’s absolutely essential you spend at least part of each meeting, when you are not discussing vital household issues, really trying to get to the bottom of your employee’s feelings about her job. Now, this may be easier said than done; many people, of course, are not apt to discuss their feelings until those feelings become unbearable (at which point it is very likely too late to do anything about them). Let me, therefore, recommend a few tips.

First, move your meetings away from the home and the kids, since both of you will need to avoid distractions. Second, impose regularity and formality on these meetings—appoint a certain hour on a certain day every month as your meeting date without fail, find a quiet meeting spot, and do anything else you can to signal to your employee that you take these meetings, and her feelings, seriously. Last, ensure there is room for mutual feedback in every meeting and that you are not doing all the talking. This may mean giving your nanny a pre-appointed amount of time in which she must respond to standard questions concerning her level of job satisfaction (particularly if she is more reserved). If it means the first time you hear any hint of dissatisfaction is not the day she turns in her resignation, however, then it’s worth it.

Best of luck!

Kathy Dupuy, Founder and Owner

1.  Deal with things as they come.
To battle continuous clutter like mail and dishes, you must have systems and routines for dealing with it.  Can you imagine if the post office let letters and packages stack up, and at the end of the week the workers acted really surprised and panicked about delivering all of it?  Of course not!  They know it’s their business to deliver mail, and they have systems and routines in place to make that happen--daily.  Our homes are no different. 

2.  Stop extra postal mail, unsolicited phone calls, and junk e-mails.
Junk communications are clutter too, and they cost you time and energy.  Each communication represents little decisions you have to make every day.  Should I talk to this salesperson?  Should I read this catalog?  Should I open this junk mail? 

Resources:

• Postal Mail Reduction Tips:  www.newdream.org/junkmail
  
• Direct Marketing Association:  www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing
  
• Opting Out of Credit Card Offers:  www.optoutprescreen.com
  
• National Do-Not-Call Registry:  www.donotcall.gov
  
• Federal Trade Commission Spam Information:  http://www.ftc.gov/spam/

3.  Plan and think before you buy.
People create a lot of clutter by simply buying the wrong thing and not returning it.  Take measurements, bring color swatches, and know sizes and quantities before you go out. 

When you are about to buy something, ask yourself these crucial purchasing questions:

• Who can I borrow this from or share this with?
  
• What do I already have that is like this item?
  
• Where will I store this item?
  
• When will I have time to use it and maintain it?
  
• Why do I need this item?

Like dieters always say, “a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips.”  Preventing the clutter from entering your home in the first place means that you’ll have less of it to “work off” later!

Lorie Marrero, 512.301.2426, www.livingorder.com

• “After researching 5+ agencies, we chose Mom's Best Friend because the staff was highly professional and the response time was incredible.”
  --Janet F, Nanny Client

• “Thank you for the prompt service - you can't plan when your children are going to be ill and it sure helps that you are prompt with setting up services to care for them. I am very thankful also that you take the time (was very obvious to me) to find such caring individuals.”
  --Kim S, Corporate Backup Care Client

• “Janis and I travel quite often, rotating between three residences. We needed someone to maintain our primary residence and to maintain our primary residence and oversee the maintenance and readiness of the other two. We called MBF and reviewed our requirements/wishes. Within one week MBF had four resumes for our review. Our first interview with Paul was our last. Paul has become an integral part of our life, as well as “almost like family.
  
  “Thank you MBF for alleviating all of the “hassels” from our schedules. Janis and I don’t know how we survived without the assistance of someone like Paul the past thirty years.”
  --Doug Maund, Household Staffing Client

• “Everyone that I met with and worked with at MBF was amazing! I was very impressed by how helpful, organized, professional, kind and caring everyone was.”
  --Christiana Elmer, Nanny

Making a Brighter Christmas at the Settlement Home
The staff at Mom's Best Friend came together to fulfill the Christmas wish list of the many children at the Settlement Home. Each child requested a gift of choice. General gifts were delivered as well for everyday uses with arts and crafts and other activities. The children received presents such as crayons, markers and clay for daily projects and clothes, shoes, pajamas, and stationary from their wish list. The smiles on the children's faces when distributed made the holiday season brighter!!