January 2009 Archives
When I was a kid, a helium balloon was a precious thing. Balloons weren't given away casually as they are now; in fact, you often had to pay for them, which meant wearing down parents with incessant begging over the course of a shopping excursion. Occasionally a clown might give away a balloon, but the encounter was usually terrifying. By far the most heartbreaking experience was seeing the balloon string slip out of your hand and away into the sky.
Maybe that's one reason disposable helium tanks for home use still impress me as a wonderful luxury. Most kids are so accustomed to receiving balloons at restaurants that they almost expect them. Even so, nothing beats balloons for setting a celebratory mood, and a helium cannister can be the a secret weapon for a prepared BirminghamMom.
For $25 to $50, depending on the size of the tank, you can be set for dozens of events in your family. Balloons aren't so much for kids to play with anymore (now we know that latex pieces from burst balloons can obstruct young children's airways) as they are useful for decoration and an air of festivity. Here are some reasons to get yourself a canister:
- Obviously a birthday is a perfect occasion for balloons. Make a balloon bouquet for the centerpiece at dinner and don't limit your balloon-festooned birthday celebrations to the kids. Grown ups like them too, especially grandparents.
- Special day for someone? Tie a balloon to their dining room chair to honor them. It's like having a spotlight on them during dinner. How about a balloon for each "A" or improved grade on a report card? A bundle of balloons can elevate a regular day to something special.
- Balloons on the mailbox always signify a party and help your guests know they've come to the right place.
- Fill an indoor foyer or hallway with balloons with extra-long strings and enjoy the funhouse effect of walking through them - especially good for a surprise party.
- Kids' ballgame day: Tie a couple of balloons in team colors near the breakfast table to start the day with a winning mood. Balloons are also handy decorations during the adults' big game watch party.
The point is, there are a multitude of little events that routinely happen in our lives and these should be celebrated. A few balloons are easy enough to provide and imagine how these efforts can add to the level of joy your family experiences. Your family's birthdays alone will make a disposable helium tank worth having.
Find a canister in Birmingham at:
Party City (watch for occasional coupons in the paper or Val-pak, especially around holidays)
Target
Wal Mart near the greeting card and party invitation section
An evening spent discussing math? No thanks, I'd rather grow out a bad haircut. At least that was my initial reaction until one of my kids was offered a smidgen of extra credit for my attendance at a Community Math Night. The teacher assured us we would hear a dynamic, fascinating speaker.
Huh? Can any speaker be "dynamic" or "fascinating" with an unfortunate topic like math?
In short, yes. Dr. Ruth Parker, featured speaker and founder of the Mathematics Education Collaborative, mezmerized even a hardened skeptic like me. That offer of extra credit was a bribe well taken.
The Greater Birmingham Mathematics Partnership (GBMP) sponsors these Community Math Nights. GBMP is a consortium of nine schools in the Birmingham area as well as UAB, Birmingham-Southern College, and the Mathematics Education Collaborative. Its mission is to increase the mathematics achievement levels of our students overall while narrowing the achievement differences among the student populations. I'm sure rekindling the math interests of BirminghamMoms is beyond the partnership's scope. However, a math averse mom sitting next to me during the first session confessed that her math education would have actually been enjoyable if it had been taught like this.
Many of us who learned math via rote memory and multiplication tables had little chance to develop a love of the subject and are determined not to see our kids suffer the same fate. Although there are new and innovative methods for teaching math facts in school, we still dread the day that the methods we learned render us less than helpful to our inquisitive children.
Dr. Parker coaxes both adults and kids through a series of short problem-solving adventures, although the beauty is that it never feels like it. Her presentations build from a tickle of interest into an all-out quest for answers, which of course are never provided but are allowed to emerge through seemingly casual exploration. Even the engineers in the audience appear pensive, obviously thinking through a possible answer right along with their child. (As a suggestion, avoid wearing your BE&K company shirt unless you don't mind feeling some pressure.)
The last Community Math Nights for this school year are February 2nd at Pleasant Grove Elementary, February 3rd at Forest Hills Middle School, and February 4th at Bumpus Middle School from 6 - 8:30 p.m. Pizza and drinks are provided (see the BirminghamMom calendar for details). Parents and educators are encouraged to attend to learn games and methods that teach math and make learning fun. These are entertaining games you can play at home with no more than a pencil, scratch paper, and perhaps a single dice. A list of additional resources is also provided.
You will not be disappointed in Math Night unless you count the moment you realize you may have spent years needlessly thinking you weren't good at math. As Dr. Parker proves, anyone can do math after all.
Remember Con-Tact brand paper, the self-adhesive covering that could be used to clad virtually any item? In its heyday it was used to cover any old thing to give it a second life and came in all sorts of prints and colors.
It's a shame that the patterns offered today aren't particularly current (a faux wood grain pattern is apparently the most enduring). The good news is that Hallmark now offers a self-adhesive product in fresh patterns for only $5 a roll.
This adhesive paper is marketed as gift wrap and that's probably a good use for it (frustrating to open, maybe, but at least it wouldn't loosen during transport). However, the real opportunity for this product is its usefulnes in breathing new life into things you already own. For example, this is an empty Starbucks Mocha Powder canister that has has been covered in Hallmark's adhesive wrap to become a nifty pen holder.
Now all the disparate accessories in the home office have gotten a makeover thanks to this wrap. Previously boring magazine holders and boxes for CDs look downright sassy, like they were staged for a Real Simple photo shoot. Even a plain white photo box has attitude with its lid covered in this pattern (photo boxes are $1.50 at Michaels). This paper comes in rolls 30" wide so it will easily cover a plain cardboard filebox and fitted lid without a lot of patching and piecing. Best of all, containers that were looking tired and sad are now coordinated and cheerful. You'd never guess they weren't purchased together in a matching set.
There are other patterns like bold stripes and subtle prints that might be more to your taste, with some juvenile patterns as well. Then again, some of the patterns just look like wrapping paper and wouldn't be graphic enough to make a statement. While this glossy paper is durable enough for storage, it is not suitable for heavy wear and tear.
If you're a Hallmark Gold Crown member, don't forget to use your coupons. This roll was 40% off, so it was only $3.50. That's an entire office storage makeover for the price of a single mocha!
There are dozens of Hallmark stores in the Birmingham area; check the >StoreLocator">Hallmark Site to find one near you.
It's safe to say most everyone is looking for ways to cut back on their use of electricity, and dimmers are recommended by the energy experts as an effective way to lessen the amount of power a house consumes with the bonus of influencing the overall mood of a space.
You probably already have a dimmer switch over your dining table and in your great room, but there is another place you really should consider installing a dimmer: the master bathroom.
This isn't an issue of saving electricity, although of course that helps. The great thing about a dimmer in your master bath is that you can use it on full power to help wake up in the mornings or on a lower setting for a relaxing shower or bath at night. If one of you has a work schedule that requires waking earlier or later, the dimmer can be used to tone down the arresting beam of light that could otherwise disturb the lucky person still sleeping.
Most homes built or updated in the last 15 years feature a soaking tub or jacuzzi in the master bath, but hardly anyone uses theirs enough to justify its original cost. The giant tub has become one of those features that gets chalked up to resale value and is otherwise hardly touched. That's unfortunate because a soaking tub is probably the most underutilized yet readily available weapon a BirminghamMom has to replenish her energy and combat stress.
Soaking under a standard bright light is not relaxing. Maybe you don't have time for a leisurely, full-production bath with candles and music, but with a dimmer you can at least create a soothing ambiance with a minimum of fuss. Even a quick evening shower could be more enjoyable. You would never expect a spa to have 60+ watts glaring off all the tiles and mirrors, so why should you settle for such harsh light in your bath at home? If you already have fluffy towels and a comfy robe, a dimmer would bring you that much closer to a spa-like experience. When it's time to clean the bath or apply make-up, go back to full strength lighting with no problem.
Dimmer switches are at any big-box hardware store and cost form $15 to $40. Some have a "theater lighting" feature which dims the lights off slowly rather than an abrupt switch to darkness. You can install one yourself following simple directions - truly, the only tool you need is a screwdriver to remove the outlet plate - and imagine the smug sense of competence you would have from doing it yourself. On the other hand, your hubby might be happy to install the dimmer since this is one home project that can be accomplished in less than an hour.
Suggest a dimmer for your bath as the ultimate practical Valentine gift this year.
Denise, a BirminghamMom of two from Oak Mountain, shares a Find her family has used for vacations with great success: VRBO.com. (In fact, check out this Norman Rockwell-esque home in Maine where her family spent part of the holiday season sipping hot chocolate and throwing snowballs along a 50-acre tract, frozen ponds and all.)
VRBO.com stands for Vacation Rentals by Owner, and it has listings well beyond the typical condominium. Of course, there are plenty of condos by the beach, cabins in the mountains, and lodging in the usual vacation spots, but there are also less typical options that might encourage your family to try something entirely new and different. Since properties are listed directly by owner, rentals are often discounted compared to those with property management and administrative fees.
Denise points out that staying in a house or condo through VRBO.com is almost always cheaper than hotel lodging nearby. Besides the lower rental costs, having a kitchen and appliances at hand means less of your vacation budget spent on restaurant meals. Most of us probably don't care to spend our vacations cooking (how's that a vacation?), but if your family isn't into breakfast, you all may be just as happy having toast or cereal in your pajamas as you would going out and lining up for pancakes. Likewise, you might prefer to dine out at lunch while you're sightseeing, then come back for a leisurely easy-prep dinner with no wait and no rush. Anyone can stick a frozen lasagna and garlic bread in the oven, especially if it means having 40 bucks to spend on something else you would value even more, like admission to an attraction.
Surely you have had the experience of shopping in a rush (almost always a mistake) and purchasing a pair of shoes that were fabulous in the store but became noticably uncomfortable once you actually wore them. Maybe you hoped that you would break them in with time or your vanity convinced you they were worth any discomfort.
I once let the thrill of a bargain override my better judgment and bought a pair of shoes that wore like Chinese foot binding. I finally hobbled across the threshold of a coworker's office. "Cute shoes!" she greeted. "Have you ever heard of Blister Block?"
This is one of those items you have to learn about from a girlfriend, otherwise you would be unlikely to ever discover it. Blister Block is stocked in the footcare section of most drug stores near the bandages, creams and diabetic socks. It comes in an applicator like a miniature deoderant stick, scarcely larger than a tube of lip balm. It is a product to keep handy during sports seasons when the kids are subject to chaffing from new shoes, pads or equipment. It's also a great defense for Mom's weary feet whether she's wearing her stillettos or breaking in a new pair of more sensible shoes.
Don't wait until you have a blister to buy some of this, since Blister Block is best used to prevent chafing in the first place. Once you've developed a blister, there's little choice but to move up to a bandage and - what else? - change those shoes.
Observe the paint counter at a home improvement or paint store on any Saturday morning and it is clear that the average person finds it difficult, sometimes agonizing, to pick the "right" paint color. This difficulty is compounded by the sample paint strips illustrating manufacturer-recommended coordinating color choices. Women stare with glazed eyes across hundreds of these strips while the guy with them asks, "What's so hard about white?" Of course this just makes things worse.
If you're often stumped at the paint counter, the Aura line of paints from Benjamin Moore may be your salvation. This paint is heralded as the ultimate paint for this premium brand, with rich, fade-resistant color and low VOC emimssions that make it especially suitable for children's rooms. As honorable as those attributes are, one of the most remarkable features of this paint is the range of available colors in its spectrum, called Affinity. In short, the Affinity claim is that every one of the 144 colors coordinate with one another.
This is a bit of a revolutionary concept if you think about how it could impact your confidence in color choice and your comfort in making a selection. Beyond the assurance that the paint colors together on wall, trim and ceiling will complement one another, there is the advantage of having colors that are sure to harmonize throughout the house. True, there isn't a bubble gum pink or a sunny yellow in the bunch, so you may not have these quintessential nursery room shades to choose from, but there are an abundance of colors in the collection that would showcase traditionally colored fabrics and furnishings.
Aura paint isn't cheap. Expect $55 per gallon, but consider that it is self-priming and adheres easily, possibly saving you time and effort. Almost any of Benjamin Moore's paints can be mixed in an Affinity color, so it's not necessary to purchase the premium Aura paint formulation to enjoy the color. And if your heart is set on classic baby boy blue for a child's room, consider that Benjamin Moore has the Pottery Barn color collection as featured in all of the retailer's catalogs. You can't get much more quintessential than that.
There are six Benjamin Moore dealers in the Birmingham area:
Homewood - 28th Street (Pierce-Taber)
Vestavia - Hwy 31 (Rainbow Paint & Decorating)
Hoover - Lorna Road as well as Old Hwy 31
Irondale - Crestwood Blvd. (Royal Paints)
Pelham - Hwy 31 (Bill Street's Decorating Center)
School days seemed like such good times for music. Every year had its anthem, every break up had its theme, and every summer break had its playlist.
Alas, sometime after the lock-step of school, you grow up and summer is just another season, days have settled into routines, and music, once the great marker of life's moments, sort of fades into the ambient noise of living. Although there's plenty of good music, it seems harder to find it among all the other things that vie for your time and attention.
Pandora.com is a website that essentially lets the music find you. Enter an artist, song, or genre you like and the site plays your selection but also begins loading other similar songs/artists that you are likely to enjoy. Enter Sarah Barielles, for example, and you'll receive a message from Pandora pledging to find more songs with "mellow rock instrumentation, acoustic sonority, and a thru composed melodic style." A Jill Scott entry, in contrast, promises additional songs with "extensive vamping and flat-out funky grooves" among other things. Whatever, just keep it coming!
The site is based on a "music genome project" whereby musicians have listened to songs and categorized them based on hundreds of elements. Songs that share common elements are then categorized accordingly, with over half a million works categorized so far. You can develop as many personal music stations on Pandora as you like, adding your own descriptions and refining them as you wish. (I'm still working on my personal "Concentrating" and "Bubble Bath" stations.) Click a "thumbs up" for a song you love or a "thumbs down" if, alternatively, you want to banish a song from your station.
The free version includes infrequent advertisements during the programming that are nowhere as intrusive as the advertising frequency on regular radio. A $36 annual subscription provides advertising-free programming. You can also purchase and download any song with either the paid or unpaid service.
The service has been so dead-on with most of my preferences it is almost uncanny, dishing up new artists I love instantly as well as favorites I know by heart. Be warned of the danger of unconsciously singing aloud in Starbucks.
I first noticed these small pitchers at daycare, where teachers calmly let the kids get their own servings for breakfast (after handwashing, of course) and then pour their own juice, milk, etc. This was remarkable to me since at home I apportioned each meal, cut it into bite-size pieces, and poured the accompanying milk without a thought. The kids, on the other hand, loved to serve themselves. Why not let them?
A gallon milk jug is just too heavy and cumbersome for kids to handle, but this little 32 ounce pitcher is just right. It's unbreakable, lightweight, and has an deep spout that pours steadily and is easy to control. Decant milk into this pitcher (only fill halfway so it isn't too top heavy) and any kid with the manual dexterity to operate a DVD player can also pour his or her own milk. (Find it at Bresco downtown or on Amazon for less than $7.)
This is especially helpful for Saturday morning if your kids wake at the crack of dawn but you prefer to move at a slower pace. Place a plastic bowl with cereal out at night before bed and put the pitcher in the refrigerator door (place some wrap over the top but leave the spout open). When junior wakes up in the morning, his breakfast is waiting for him and he won't need you just for pouring. This pitcher is also perfect for the dinner table so that you don't have a big milk jug or juice carton sitting out and no one has to get up and go to the fridge for seconds.
Once the kids can wield the gallon jug (and are likely trying to handle the 2-liter cola bottle), this little pitcher is handy for leftover smoothie mix or for keeping batter that will be cooked in small batches. In short, you may have to make a special trip to buy more milk, but it shouldn't take such effort for the kids to pour it.
It's remarkable that I am sharing ways to extend the life of plastic cups given the fact that I spent the first years of married life slowly getting rid of my husband's collection of stadium cups. Of course I once had cups left over from college, but somehow I was not as personally attached to mine and experienced less pain when it was time to retire them.
Now I actually wince as I leave a football game clutching my family's four empty cups and stepping over all those left behind. If 3 out of 4 of the 86,000 attendees purchase a soda, and half of those throw away those cups, my math tells me that's 32,250 cups that are left to waste away in a landfill (hopefully many are recycled). My own controlled experiments prove that the cups are still functional after five years of use (though the graphics will have faded); so how long do all those cups take to decompose?
I figure if I re-use a cup just once for any purpose I've automatically doubled it's expected utility. To that end, I offer you some ways to use plastic cups so that they are again useful and possibly even prevent your having to purchase something else for the purpose:
Kids' cups with lids -
- Snack storage - These are great for cheerios or other crushable snacks like cheese puffs. Use a cup instead of a baggie or plastic container and toss it after you get to your destination so there's less to bring home
- Crayon storage and dividers - A cup with a lid is great for storing crayons, though it needs to be pretty full to keep the crayons from smearing each other. Cups placed snugly within a tray or tote can serve as a craft kit with a spot for scissors, markers, and pencils held upright and separate.
- Another benefit: Consider that most kids' cups will fit in the outside cup pocket of diaper bags and backpacks, so you can reach whatever you store in them easily and without having to unzip or dig around anywhere.
Stadium and to-to plastic cups -
- Herbs - Keep fresh herbs upright in your fridge by filling a cup with an inch or less of water, then placing your parsley, cilantro, etc. inside with the stems positioned in the water. This will keep your herbs fresh longer than leaving them in the produce bag or laying them horizontally in a container.
- Popcorn - Some of these cups are 32 and even 44 ounces. That's as big or bigger than the popcorn bag you pay $4 for at the theater. If you're saving money staying in, save a little more and re-use your giant cups for popcorn. Smaller hands in particular have no problem getting down to the very last kernel at the bottom.
- Bathtime - These make great cups for the baby's bath. Dip and pour until all the suds are rinsed away, and squeeze that cup as much as you need to make a pouring spout. So what if it splits? You've got others.
- Disposable cups - Sure, the idea of re-using a plastic cup for a beverage is obvious, but if you trash your extra large Moe's cup as you exit the restaurant, consider that a Solo party cup costs 3 - 5 cents. Use that Moe's cup another time and you've saved yourself almost a nickel. Imagine a nickel saved every time you elect to re-use a plastic cup over a disposable party cup. You're saving money and delaying the creation of more trash.
Give a few humble plastic cups a second act. They're not just for broke college students and newlyweds.
Unless you purchase supplies for your own business or for the office, you may never have noticed these removable labels from Avery at the office supply store. Even if you had, you would probably have assumed they were only useful for file folders or routing slips. Au contraire! These have so many uses for busy BirminghamMoms.
These are a marvelous alternative to post-it notes, which tend to curl and detach easily from anything that requires frequent handling. These removable labels adhere completely to a surface, making them less likely to be ripped off inadvertently or become ratty with wear. Here are some favorite uses:
Label (and re-label) drawers, bookshelves and bins with no fear of sticky residue. Besides helping young kids recognize and understand words, your labels will help everyone keep things straight and in order. Use them to label bins around the house and you won't have a mess when it's time to change labels to reflect new contents or owners. These are perfect for when you need to re-label bins from size 2T to 3T or assign stored clothes to the next lucky hand-me-down recipient.
Attach directly to your library book covers. They'll peel right off, leaving no residue, but you will have an insistent reminder of how much time you have to finish your book before it is due.
Place on a gift card to keep track of your declining balance. If you know you'll be using a card again and again, this is an easy way to stay mindful of how much spending power you have left. Of course, if there were ever a dispute, only a receipt from the merchant would be helpful. But if you aren't likely to keep track of a receipt or if you don't want to be left to wonder later whether the card has any remaining value, a label is your answer. Especially consider a label if you have a medical flexible spending account card with a pre-set limit (and include a reminder to yourself to submit your receipts for reimbursement).
Another idea: Keep a label on your credit or debit card to keep track of expenditures between payments, especially if you're not inclined to log in to your account frequently between billing cycles.
Reminders. Your child's caregiver can read "please offer with cereal" on a food packet and be reminded of your wishes even before she checks your morning notes. Alternatively, you can use these as reminders to help you cope with motherhood-induced memory loss (when will the medical community acknowledge this phenomenon?), especially on objects requiring repairs, returns, approvals, etc. You can peel the reminder off without a trace once you've taken care of...what was it again?
Instructions for school notes, etc. A larger removable label is perfect for multiple-step instructions or even short correspondence. A sticky note is likely to detach inside a slinging backpack, but these labels will stay secure, especially on objects like the plastic folder pictured.
Inside decanters. This is one of my favorite uses for these labels. I like to decant dry goods like pasta, beans, etc. to keep the pantry neat and the contents protected. However, I don't always trust myself to remember the exact measurements or cooking times for things like rice, waffle mix, and so on. One of these labels with a few notes tucked inside the lid keeps me cooking and keeps the pantry clear. When I wash the decanter or replace the contents with something new, I just peel off the label. The labels also adhere well to dishes in the freezer ("bake 45 minutes at 375").
As originally intended: file folder labels. How many times have you seen people prepare folders to gather every document required for a 30 minute meeting, then toss the folder afterward because the meeting achieved its objective but the folder label is now outdated? I would bet I have seen hundreds of manilla folders thrown away even though they were in pristine condition other than the label. A removable label allows you to reuse the folder for the next meeting (regrettably) or, much better, the final memo outlining the objective that was accomplished.
The line of Avery removable labels includes several sizes. My favorite product versions are labels #6461 (1" x 2 5/8") and 8066 (standard size file label). Make sure you purchase REMOVABLE labels; they aren't the same as those marked "easy peel."
Eight out of ten BirminghamMoms probably share the same goal this year: Eat more deliberately, making healthier choices for optimal energy and weight control. The funny thing is, most of us probably know what to do. We just have a terrible time actually doing it.
The first step experts always recommend is a food diary. My friend Natalie told me about The Daily Plate last fall when she began using it to track what she ate. She loved that it had exact nutritional information for all sorts of brand name dishes (from frozen to restaurant servings as well as approximations for homemade). Best of all, basic access is free. You can click an icon to add each glass of water you drink daily, view a pie chart of your calorie breakdown, and add comments to you diary to track your food's effect on your mood and energy level. Natalie said tracking her food intake had made her much more aware of what she was eating, and I personally witnessed her decline the fabulous lasagna at Costa's in favor of the salmon, even then eating only half her breadstick. I marveled at her self control as I sopped my bread in the herb infused oil.
The Daily Plate recently partnered with the Livestrong Foundation. Now the site also offers recipes, alternative food suggestions, the ability to join affinity groups (such as Moms Unite, Tall Chicks Unite, 5'2" or Less, the 50 to Lose Club, just to name a few) and opportunity to take a "dare" to walk every day, drink less caffeine, etc. I have found that tracking my intake really does make me mindful about choosing a banana, say, rather than a cookie for a snack. I know I'll also be enjoying the lasagna with a bit more appreciation next time.
BirminghamMom tip: Now is a great season for making lifestyle changes since so many fellow Alabamians are participating in Scale Back Alabama. Check out additional resources recommended on the Scale Back Alabama site.
I once came across a magazine article about a Mom who never called her kids' household tasks "chores" but instead referred to them as "skills". This seemed a very politically correct and positive way to spin the business of acquiring these "skills," which I myself had honed for many weary years. In short, I realized Mom would never be liberated unless the kids were apprenticed to learn how to clean. Thus, once they came of age to operate basic household equipment, the lessons began. You can help your growing kids develop these skills as well.
- Give them roles that spark their imagination. "Garbage Sack Santa Claus" encouraged our kids to assume the job of collecting the full trash liners from wastecans in the bathrooms and bedrooms and consolidate them into the big trash bin. They understood the image of Santa carrying the his toy sack (in retrospect, maybe the Garbage Grinch would have been more appropriate).
- "Park Sweeper" got started when we noticed how fascinated the kids were with the attendants at Disneyworld, Alabama Adventure, and even the Galleria. They thought the dustpan on a stick was so cool that they would literally stop eating to watch an attendant sweep up a fry three tables away. Seeing a home version of these dustpans with handles in Bed, Bath and Beyond, I took a chance and bought one. Sure enough, it was a hit. Now the new has worn off of this trick dustpan, but that's all part of the plan. Our hope is that they get sick enough of the dustpan to prepare themselves for another profession.
- Swiffer mop - What toy can even compare to the Swiffer? It has buttons! It sprays! It even has a sort of diaper to change. Moms, you're crazy if you don't put this amazing gadget to work in the hands of your eager and able kids. Our moms had to wring mops and tote buckets of water, but now we are delivered from these messy hazards.
Your fella wouldn't admit it, but with the lawn mower stored away and the grill in winter mode, he has time free for other productive pursuits. Although the modern caveman spends winter watching one ballgame after another, challenge him to work on the indoor mini-projects that were neglected during warmer months (after all, has grocery shopping or preparing dinner gone dormant for you? Didn't think so).
Winter is also a great time for reading. A recent discussion among girlfriends prompted the unscientific conclusion that it is generally the man of the house who reads the least in the family. We moms head up the trips to the library, help the kids make selections for the Scholastic book order, and get caught up in a good novel ourselves from time to time (though that's often a luxury reserved for the summer beach trip).
Although we women frequently encounter the latest reading materials, through shopping if nothing else, men generally don't have the same exposure to reading messages. Unless a guy visits the library or goes to a bookstore, chances are he will only stumble upon current bestsellers at an airport convenience store. And unlike women, who are comfortable browsing until they find something that strikes their interest, most men seek books the same way they shop: On a mission, with a singular goal in mind. They are more interested in reading a particular title than reading for its own sake. Think about how this applies to your own son. One day when you're not prodding him to pick his five book quota at the library, will he be motivated to read?
This site addresses the reading dilemma. Guys Read recommends books that speak to guys at any age, from very young to adult. While some titles are classics with broad appeal like the Harry Potter series or Lemony Snickett, many were obviously written with the target age group in mind. After the Captain Underpants Series, which my son adored, I find it no surpirse that The Day My Butt Went Psycho is a compelling title on the Guys Read site. Don't let that scare you,though; one of the points made by the Guys Read founder is that a lot of what boys enjoy reading isn't recognized as "real reading," which discourages their efforts.
Of course, this is not to discredit the many excellent male readers out there. In fairness, it is hard to find time to read when you're commuting to work, helping support a family, going to practices and ballgames, and handling a honey-do list. But if you don't have to worry so much about groceries, dinner, or yardwork, and you now have a great list of titles to choose from, why not give up some Finebaum time and open a book?
