tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393996338560944889.post1988139469243854331..comments2024-03-02T02:26:00.928-05:00Comments on bleakonomy: Should I just replace them all with back issues of "Cosmo"?tetracontadigonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04604381739383227553noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393996338560944889.post-40443833916482953772009-11-19T12:43:11.782-05:002009-11-19T12:43:11.782-05:00Since parents are often trapped in waiting rooms f...Since parents are often trapped in waiting rooms for ungodly amounts of time (office staff issue, not doc issue, usually), and most parents try to avoid the toys that every germy kid in the practice has licked, I have to say I agree with Squillo. Books to read to the kids, or that they can read themselves, if they're so inclined. The monthly magazines Wild Animal Baby and Your Big Backyard are big hits with the small set, and are sweet without trying too hard to be educational (ugh with the Highlights for Children.) And a few mags parents would enjoy (since we never get to read grownup things at home) from a variety of genres...something sciency, something crafty, something readerly, something newsy. The most popular in most doc offices are the Time/Newsweek schlock, but I can't pretend that any parent attending to a child can get more than a paragraph into an Atlantic Monthly or a Harper's article.<br />Lame-o parenting magazines are all about selling their advertisers' wares. Why do you think the brain foods article didn't advocate a balanced meal and whole grains? Because Pepperidge Farm can't have us thinking bleached flour is lacking anything important.<br />I'm disappointed to hear that acai berry juice on pesticide-ridden pears isn't the secret to Harvard acceptance. I read it in a magazine so I figured it must be true. Sigh. Guess I'll have to go back to Baby Einstein and toys that read to my kid for me in the hopes that he'll learn something without actually playing with or engaging him myself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393996338560944889.post-27729984392581920032009-11-19T09:13:37.894-05:002009-11-19T09:13:37.894-05:00Yes, much better the parental unit actually reads ...Yes, much better the parental unit actually reads to the child than offloads the brain development responsibility to chunky pears marinated in antioxidents. Excellent suggestion, Squillo, I hearby second it.Gadfly Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393996338560944889.post-44082807369916663262009-11-17T19:40:54.610-05:002009-11-17T19:40:54.610-05:00Dan,
Why not do as my internist does and pick up ...Dan,<br /><br />Why not do as my internist does and pick up a nice variety of decent books on topics your patients and their parental units might be interested in? (I'm a fan of the Magic Schoolbus series for elementary age kids. They have lots of short, cheap books on cool sciency topics like germs, the heart, etc. I also think Baby 411 is a great book for new parents--worth having a copy in your waiting room if you don't already. And of course, Offit's vaccine books.)<br /><br />Of course, you may already do this; if so, in the immortal words of Emily Litella: "Never mind."Squillohttp://confutata.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com