The Best Kids' Books

NYT op-edder Nicholas Kristoff shared his list of The Best Kids' Books ever in a recent column, citing the importance of school-age children reading during the summer months. He claims that he recently came across the fact that kids actually shed a couple of points of IQ during the long vacation from school. He doesn't specifically cite the relevant study, but what a hook for a column! Okay, I'm scared! I'm interested! I'll read the rest of the column already! Check out his recommendations here, with a follow-up blog post here.

Having a young child about the house has encouraged me to keep awesome juvenile fiction around (as well as classic science fiction, in the hopes of raising a fellow sci-fi fan). Libraries are a very important (and free) source for reading material, but I think it's also a good idea to have some of your own material on hand. The more readily available great books are, the more likely your kid will reach for them when she's "boooooored" this summer. Books need not be expensive, there are a lot of second-hand sources. The library near where I work has a second-hand book store inside where kid's fiction paperbacks are a quarter. My amazing finds so far include A Wrinkle in Time and a couple of the old Alfred Hitchcock's Three Investigators mysteries.

Discount Me, Please

Many online retailers give out special "coupon codes" via email, newspaper ads, coupon books, etc. These coupons can give you a very attractive discount on items you buy online, but of course you aren't in the know about every coupon that's available when you're buying something. Retailmenot.com aims to provide a one-stop clearinghouse of currently available online coupon codes. I used it to get 10% off the Barnes and Noble order I mentioned in my previous post!

Fast AND Free?

Like many shoppers, I love Amazon.com's "Free Supersaver Shipping" option on qualifying orders over $25. There's always been one - perfectly understandable - problem with this option: Your order is a lower priority in the overall scheme of things and therefore takes longer to ship.

Earlier this week, I was looking to buy a video. It was out of stock at the local Walmart and I didn't like Amazon's price. I decided to shop around a bit more, and discovered that Barnes and Noble had a much better price on that particular item, plus it qualified for something called "Fast and Free" shipping. This turned out to be an appropriate name, as the item shipped the next day and was delivered to my door three days later.

If the time it takes to receive an item is a big deal to you, and all other considerations are equal, I very much recommend Fast and Free.

Roth IRA

My wife and I both have retirement accounts through our employer, but I recently started a Roth IRA on the side for additional retirement savings. Our frugal habits leave us with a decent monthly surplus and feeling prepared for retirement at an early age is important to my sense of well-being (and my future willingness to make bold career decisions, if need be). Just today, I saw this guest post on Get Rich Slowly that makes me feel really clever for choosing a Roth IRA: "Why I Love the Roth IRA". If you're considering putting aside some extra savings for retirement and want to learn more about your options or if you recently opened a Roth IRA and you want a pat on the back for being so smart, check it out.

Urgent Cleaning: Paint Spill on the Driveway

This past weekend, our two-year-old son was helping by taking a turn shaking a can of white latex paint to mix it up. Of course, with his experimental, two-year-old way of doing things he dropped it a couple of times, inevitably leading to the lid popping off and leaving a puddle of white paint on our driveway. We didn't panic. Okay, we did - but we managed to take turns in panic mode, so that one of the two of us would remain competent enough to deal with the mess, and that our son was assured that no one was mad at him and this was just an accident. Here's how we got the mess cleaned up:

• Wipe up the excess paint with some paper towels, rags, or whatever is on hand as soon as possible. Dispose of them in the garbage or just drop them in a handy cardboard box for now.
• Squirt some dish soap over the giant splop of paint.
• Scrub, scrub, scrub away at it with the sort of brush you use for cleaning bathroom tile.
• Rinse with the garden hose.
• Squirt more dish soap.
• Scrub, scrub, scrub. Keep a positive attitude in the face of the fact that your next door neighbor's entire extended family is showing up for a visit at this moment, and numerous other neighbors are driving by on their way to and fro, making you feel paranoid and clumsy.
• Rinse more with the garden hose. It should look quite a bit better by now. Keep repeating the soap, scrub, and rinse steps until you are pleased with the look of your driveway. We ended up with only a few stubborn specks of white, which don't stand out and should wear away this summer.
  

"Throw" Blanket as Toddler Bed Blanket

When our son moved from a crib to a toddler bed, we bought a cute, little, "throw" blanket at Target instead of buying a blanket specifically for toddlers. These small blankets - intended to be tossed over the back of a couch or spread over your knees on cold, winter nights in the living room - are the perfect size for a toddler bed and are usually less expensive. You can often find a variety of interesting and fun designs on clearance.

Review: Fisher-Price Healthy Care Booster Seat

Our child is now two and my wife and I have never had to use a full-sized high chair at home. The inconvenient size, expense, and the fact of its inevitable obsolescence once your child has outgrown it make for enough good reasons to eschew the traditional high chair in favor of a portable high chair/booster seat. We've been using the Fisher-Price Healthy Care model and have valued it for its versatility, compact size, comfort and ease of transport.

The main drawback of using a portable model at home is having the most "creative" eater in your house dropping big splorts of applesauce all over one of your good chairs. That's why I recommend finding an inexpensive Ikea chair that matches the finish on the rest of your dining room set. The chair you see in the photo above was $20, and you certainly won't regret having an extra chair around when guests arrive.

Good, bad, or okay: Good!