A Book on Every Bed: Amy Dickinson

Posted on December 18, 2013 at 3:51 pm

I love Amy Dickinson’s idea of “A Book on Every Bed,” a wonderful way to start Christmas (or any other special occasion).

Here’s how it works: You take a book (it can be new or a favorite from your own childhood).

You wrap it. On Christmas Eve (or whatever holiday you celebrate), you leave the book in a place where Santa is likely to find it. When I communicated with David McCullough about borrowing his idea, he was very clear: Santa handles the delivery and places the book on a child’s bed.

In the morning, the children in your household will awaken to a gift that will far outlast any toy: a guided path into the world of stories.

I know this for sure: No matter who you are or what you do, reading will unlock untold opportunities, mysteries and passions.

When you have a book and the ability to tell, read and share stories, you gain access to the universe of others’ imaginations. And avid readers know that if you have a book, you are never alone.

Please start this tradition with your family. It will give your children the enduring pleasure of the magic of books.

I Hope This Idea from a New Jersey Restaurant Goes Viral

Posted on December 17, 2013 at 12:25 pm

Cheers to The Station in Bernardsville, NJ. They give patrons a basket for their phones and other devices. And then if the customers make it to the end of the meal without using them, they give 5% off the bill. Bravo! Families should do this at all meals, at home and in restaurants.

Guidelines for Family Movie Night from Common Sense Media

Posted on November 17, 2013 at 8:00 am

Common Sense Media has some common sense guidelines for family movie night. The range of opportunities for solitary consumption of media has led to less time for families to sit down at the same time to enjoy — and talk about — the same movie. CSM suggests making it a regular part of the schedule and taking turns selecting the movie. Younger children will enjoy the pride and sense of responsibility that comes from making a choice. Families should not object when it is the same movie they have already seen — that is appropriate at this stage of development and it is the movies seen over and over again that become part of family lore. When I was growing up, our family watched “On the Town” and “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” countless times. And wise parents can learn a lot from the selections of middle schoolers and teenagers.

Related Tags:

Parenting Preschoolers Tweens

Pediatricians Say Kids Spend Too Much Time Watching Media

Posted on October 28, 2013 at 9:27 pm

Kids spend too much time staring at screens according to recommendations released today from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“The average 8-year-old spends eight hours a day using various forms of media, and teenagers often surpass 11 hours of media consumption daily, according to the authors of the AAP statement. More than three quarters of teenagers have cell phones, and teens ages 13 to 17 send an average of 3,364 texts per month. Several studies have linked high media consumption with poor health outcomes. For example, children with TVs in their bedrooms are more likely to be obese.”

I strongly endorse the recommendation to limit media to no more than two hours a day (with non for children under two) and never, ever in the child’s bedroom. I’d add: never, ever during meals or in car trips of less than an hour.

Who Can Teen Girls Count On For Good Advice?

Posted on October 22, 2013 at 3:59 pm

In 2002 I wrote an article about the messages in magazines for teenage girls. I said that they struck “an uneasy balance between being empowering and being trashy. This is the result of another uneasy balance between their two constituencies, readers and advertisers. Girls want to attract boys. Advertisers want to avoid controversy.”

Since that time, the internet has, for worse but mostly for better, opened up a new range of possibilities for teenagers to express themselves and explore different ideas about growing up. One of the best is Rookie, from Tavi Gevinson, an astonishingly accomplished teenaged writer/editor (with an assured movie debut in “Enough Said”). With monthly themes and topic categories that include music, fiction, tech, books and comics, style, eye candy, sex and love, “you said it,” “you asked it,” “live through this,” and “anything else” and a warm welcome for writing by its readers, it is both smart and wise, with interviews that meet or exceed the quality of any you will find in “Vanity Fair” or “Rolling Stone.” A second volume of the collected works, Rookie Yearbook Two is now available. Highly recommended.

Related Tags:

Parenting Teenagers