This weekend was the annual pinewood derby race with the kids for Adventure Guides.  Lucky me, I have another car to build for my son for cub scouts in the coming weeks since he insists on doing both.  Anyway, this was the third year with Adventure Guides and our cars have been pretty bad in the past two years.  I felt bad and now that it’s third year (and his little brother has joined as well), I wanted the boys’ cars to do a little better.  Well, after talking to some of the dads who take this stuff pretty seriously and doing some trial and error, we were able to get both cars into the finals!  That was a first, so they made about top 12 out of 80 cars.  After having crappy cars and decent cars, here are a few tips and tricks to winning the pinewood derby that I can pass on:

Pinewood Derby Car Tips and Tricks

• I’ve found that the wheels matter much more than the aerodynamics of the car.  So, if you have to focus time and attention on one over the other, focus on the axles, wheels and whatnot and don’t stress if your car isn’t perfectly sanded or your son wants to put a Lego guy sticking out the top.
• Most of the winning cars end up being very thin and/or wedge-like.  They end up stacking on a ton of weights to make up for the wood they’ve chopped out.  I’m not sure why this matters, as mass is mass, but I suppose perhaps it’s more rigid that way since the wood is pretty flimsy and the weights are metal.
• I’ve found that winning cars tend to have the weights stuck toward the back of the car, as opposed to the front.  Again, I don’t why this matters, but they all swear by it and the winning cars tend to have that pattern.
• The wheels and axles!  This is huge.
• And this is a little tidbit you’re not going to get anywhere else!  I took a snapshot of all the winner’s circle cars just before the start of the finals.  You can get a look at the undersides of all the cars, designs, weight placements and perhaps look really cool in front of your son for coming up with an awesome design!  Enjoy!

The Winner's Circle!

Do You Have Any Pinewood Derby Racing Tips?

Traditionally, the man of the household is seen as the wage-earner, or ‘breadwinner’. The woman chooses to stay at home raising the kids and generally keeping the home running.

In modern times, a reversal of these roles is common, but how do men really feel when they find themselves doing the ‘woman’s work’? Let’s find out…

Gavin is a 24-year-old part-time wrestler with a 19-month-old daughter and a wife who works full time.

How do you feel society views stay at home dads?

“The older members of society still seem to think it should be as it was back in their day, when women stayed at home and men went out to work.

“On the whole though, people don’t seem to think about it much and just take it as read that this is what works for some people.”

How do you feel about the role reversal in your home?

“It’s the norm for us. I personally don’t feel there should be a set role for either gender.

“This arrangement is just more practical for us as the jobs my wife’s trained in pay better than the jobs I’m trained in, so it makes more sense for her to work.”

What do you bring into the household, financial or otherwise?

“I don’t contribute financially as I don’t claim benefits or anything, and the wrestling I do is largely unpaid.

“My main job is to keep the home running and provide a safe and nurturing environment for our daughter.

“My wife takes care of all the financial stuff like setting up our cash ISA for next year or deciding what credit cards we should use for the shopping; I prefer to take a back seat with all that.”

Describe a typical day for you.

“Lots of playing and cleaning! I wake up when the baby wakes up, bring her down and change her. Then I give her some breakfast and clean up while she’s eating.

“We then have playtime for a couple of hours until she goes for a nap, which gives me time to clean up the aftermath of morning playtime.

“When she wakes up I change her and make us both dinner, then it’s time for afternoon play or maybe a trip to the park if the weather’s good.

“This takes us to about 5pm when the wife comes home.”

Do you get time to yourself?

“Yes, when the baby decides she wants to do things for herself! My mum has her on Mondays and she’s at nursery school Wednesday mornings so this gives me chance to get out on my bike, go shopping and anything else I need to do.”

Does being a full-time dad affect your wrestling career?

“Not at all; I base my training around my wife’s working hours and any shows I’m in are all on weekends when she doesn’t work.

“If I need to do any daytime shows through the week my wife books time off or finishes early – we help each other out.”

What do you get out of being a stay at home dad?

“Grief when I don’t do the dishes! But seriously, I get the experience of spending time with my daughter that working fathers wouldn’t normally get.

“I don’t feel like I miss out on anything like I would if I were out at work all day.”

Do you have any plans to go back to work in the future?

“I’m always keeping my eye open for work but I have a problem finding a job which would make it worthwhile financially. If I worked part time or had a low paying full-time job all the money I earned would have to go on paying childcare and we wouldn’t be any better off.

“I’ll probably wait until our daughter starts part time school and get something then. For now, this arrangement suits us.”

Is there anything you dislike about being a full-time dad?

“The main thing that bites is that I get comments from other men about who wears the trousers or questioning our relationship – I’ve been called hen-pecked a few times!

“I also get quite hurtful comments from women. I remember one incident at the park when two elderly women told me it wasn’t right that I changed a little girl’s nappies.”

And what did you say to that?

“I just said I don’t see a problem with it as she’s my daughter, and I’m not going to let her sit there in her own waste waiting for a woman to change her!”

Finally, is there anything you’d like to say to any men reading this who are perhaps thinking about becoming stay at home dads?

“Why should women have all the fun? Dads are just as good at playtime! Women fight for equal rights in the workplace, so we men should have an equal right to stay at home, raise our kids, and wear tights if we want to!

“Seriously though, if you think it will work for you don’t pass up the opportunity – it’s just as rewarding as having a job, and I wouldn’t give up the time I spend with my daughter for anything.”

Interview carried out by Les Roberts, a financial journalist with Moneysupermarket.com and a father of two.

This isn’t the type of thing a parent normally wants to publicize on the internet, but given the circumstances and how “protected” we thought we were from this type of event, I would be remiss to NOT highlight what happened to us and how it can happen to you too. The other day, my wife was putting away laundry and doing some stuff on the second floor while our 1 year old daughter was wandering around.  For a few minutes, she’d help my wife fold clothes and put them away, then she’d wander off to her brothers’ rooms, come back, etc.  This is the normal routine.  Well, when she wandered off for more than a couple minutes, my wife went to check on what she was up to and she was chewing away on Rx medication!  Here’s how it happened.

Multiple Layers of Protection were Inadequate

When our first son was born, I immediately installed child-safety locks on multiple cabinet doors – any cabinet that would house either chemicals, medication or the typical stuff you keep under sinks in bathrooms and kitchens.  The way the locks work, you can only pull the door out about 1.5 inches until the lock catches on the underside of the cabinet.  You then stick your finger in to detach the lock and open it up.  While this measure had always kept our boys out, our daughter figured this out in short order and was able to pull the door open the small amount, reach her hand in and pull out a bottle of Asthma medication.

Next, all medications come with child-resistant protective twist off lids, right?  This particular one sure did.  I recall even reading stories about how these measures turn off seniors with arthritis because they have trouble getting the tops off since you have to push and twist at the same time.  Amazingly, she got the top off that bottle as well. She was about 8 tablets in thinking they were candy presumably.

We Were Lucky

My wife immediately called poison control and it turns out we were quite lucky.  The medication was for one of our sons, so it was a low dose to begin with.  It was up for renewal in about 10 days too, so we were able to discern how many tablets were left (knowing he hadn’t missed a dose this month).  So, it was estimated at 8.  Poison control indicated they wouldn’t be concerned with anything less than a dozen even at her size.  Perhaps just a bit of hyperactivity.  It’s now been over a week and it’s evident she wasn’t harmed.  But it gave us one of the worst scares we’ve ever had with our kids (yes, worse has happened amazingly – for another post).

The Solution

Well, since our daughter has proven her ambition to get into medicine against formidable odds, we’ve now purchased a small lock box.  We have all medications in the lockbox IN the locked cabinet with the key in a separate spot.  There’s no way she can pull an entire lock box out a 1.5″ crack and after that, she’d have to figure out where the key is and open the box.  Now we feel we’re adequately protected, but in all honesty, I never would have assumed a 1 year old could get a child-resistant cap off.  So, be warned.  You may want to do the same upon reading this.

One of the most prominent struggles for parents is financial matters.  Kids, marital problems, health issues and bad luck aside, money issues still comprise the largest portion of reasons for arguments and divorce amongst couples.  As such, it’s key to be aligned in philosophies on income, expenditures, savings and investments.

In today’s rapid-fire world of financial transactions, in the blink of an eye, one can secure a cash advance or other means of online loans through peer lending and other networks without the consult of their partner – even though such a move may adversely impact their partner’s credit score.  Some consider hiding of financial transactions of this nature tantamount to committing “financial adultery”.  Personally, while I’d be angry and disappointed by secretive borrowing and spending, I don’t think I’d put it on the same plane as the real thing.

That aside, it’s always good to pull a credit report and watch for suspicious behavior, even if you ARE in a trusting relationship.  In may not be legal to transact a credit report in someone else’s name – even your spouse, so in the interest of full disclosure and cooperation, set a calendar item to run one every 3-6 months or so.  Since the 3 agencies are now required to provide at least one per year, you can do this for free multiple times per year anyway.

I’ll just say that we know someone personally who racked up 6 figures in debt over the period of a few years completely under the radar primarily through credit card spending.  While they were able to knock some of this principal off via a debt settlement, chances are, the interest rate they were paying was sufficiently high to make such savings underwhelming.  I’m sure there were plenty of fights in the household when that bubble burst.  So, just be realistic.  This does happen, and it may be happening to you – talk to your spouse and set a periodic check.  You’ll both sleep better at night.

Last year, I wrote this Adventure Guides review (a huge two thumbs up).  For a few reasons, this year, we’ve opted to sign up our six year old with Cub Scouts as well.  At least in our neck of the woods, the two organizations are noticeably different, both worthwhile though.  We are cautious about overburdening our son with too many activities since he’s in piano lessons and seasonal sports as well.  The quandary we have here is he absolutely loved his first adventure guides season and wants to stay with it, but I was only able to rope one other dad and son into it.  All his other schoolmates/friends are in cub scouts.  So, we figured we’d sign him up for both and just get to what we can reasonably get to.

Here are some key differences I see between the two:

Adventure Guides

• Informal
• Dads only
• No fundraising
• Go to what you want, skip the rest
• Meetings are Quick, Kids Play while Dads talk
• More focus on fun stuff, overnights, Dad & Son (or daughter)
• No real focus on community service, charity, discipline

Cub Scouts

• More Formal and Structured
• Both moms and dads go to events
• More expensive and fundraising required
• Meetings are more frequent and some pressure to attend all meetings/events
• Administrative meetings are tough on fidgety little guys (boring)
• Broader focus – outdoors, culture, survival tactics, ropes, other skills
• Strong on the creed, discipline, service to others, volunteering, etc.

What I’ve heard about both organizations is as the kids reach the 9-10 age group, they start to drop out and get into other things, so we’re going to make the most of the time we have with these organizations now.  The Adventure Guides outings seem a little more informal, crazy and fun.  There’s a slight feeling of “up tight” and rigid oversight with the Cub Scouts expectations, but maybe it’s just a function of a lax Adventure Guides leader and opposite Cub Scouts leader.  Some of the activities actually overlap, and it will get to be expensive to go to everything, so we’ll have to prioritize.

I’m curious to hear from anyone else who’s had experience with either, or both organizations.

I recall reading the Freakonomics section outlining the statistically unfounded fear of handguns over swimming pools since the press sensationalizes gunshot deaths much more so than swimming pool deaths, even though the latter is much more prevalent, and thinking about all the other seemingly misplaced worries that parents have.  In today’s news cycle where every outrageous event, no matter how isolated or rare, ends up being run over and over and pounded into our psyche that we, as parents, actually start to believe there’s a real threat to our family, no matter how remote in reality.  Here are a few very common fears that I see amongst friends, families and pop culture.

• Everyone’s a Molester – I had to undergo a background check to coach my kid’s T-Ball team.  While that sounds all well and good, what’s the actual risk to children?  Of the millions of little kids playing sports each year, how many actually whisked off in a van and molested by their coach?  And what’s the cost to society of all these background checks every year?  Here’s why this is odd.  First off, all the coaches in our league are moms and dads of kids playing.  Next, where’s the opportunity?  During a practice or a game, there are other parents, other kids and I have my own kid to look after.  At what point in time or location would there be an opportunity to conduct the heinous crime?  While parents may fear the baseball coach, they’re still willingly sending their kids off to volunteer at church and mom is leaving the kids with step-daddy – the more likely culprits statistically.  You’ve just gotta wonder if this has been taken a little too far.

• Vaccines – Regardless of the preponderance of evidence from unbiased experts that there is absolutely zero correlation between vaccines and autism (I researched this thoroughly before vaccinating my children and was surprised by the crap the anti-vaccine fearmongers have made up on the subject), virtually every new parent actually believes their kid is at risk of autism following each vaccination.  They opt to spread shots, skip shots, find a doctor who will tell them that, yes, vaccines are dangerous, when in fact, the data, any way you look at it, demonstrates that there is no link.  In fact, when thimerosal was removed from all vaccines excluding flu around 2000, autism diagnoses continued to skyrocket!  It’s obvious it’s not the vaccines, but people need to blame something or someone and unfortunately, they’ve diverted attention away from the true root cause (obvious genetic component, with perhaps some environmental triggers).

• Killer Food – It’s tough to argue that there’s not a lot of crap in our food that’s kinda nasty.  Fast food, packaged food, whatever.  The thing is, in moderation, there isn’t much evidence that it’s actually harmful.  It just “seems” nasty.  Granted, we do buy organic milk to eliminate exposure to chemicals and we buy organic fruit where we can, but in moderation, consumption of these materials is unlikely to turn our children into zombies overnight.  Some parents are so militant about what their children eat that they can barely function outside of mommy’s careful jurisdiction.  No eating at a friend’s house and no staying at auntie’s house because they don’t have the right food.  Is one night out here and there or a lunch with a buddy where they might serve dreaded non-organic food likely to poison your child?  No.

The list goes on.

What Are common Fears You Think Are Crazy?

It’s odd how the brain works.  I only tend to recall a select few memories from childhood and they’re not the ones you’d think.  Disney World? No. Hitting my First Home Run?  No.  Oddly, some of them revolve around negative events even though I had an incredibly positive childhood comparatively speaking.  I’ve read that this is an evolutionary relic where humans tend to remember negative events more prominently as a survival mechanism but somehow my Dad yelling at me for sneaking up on him (Vietnam vet – not a fan of the sneak attack), being made fun of by classmates, etc. tends to stand out.  As a parent though, even as a father of 3 kids with the oldest at 6, I already have some very prominent memories that will likely stick with me for a lifetime.

My favorite and most memorable moments with my kids that tend to stand out in no particular order:

Teaching my son to ride his bike – Probably my most prominent memory of late is my oldest learning how to ride his bike without training wheels.  After several attempts throughout the spring and the ensuing falls and yelling at dad, he finally got it and as I was running alongside him and gave him a push, off he went.  He was trying to conceal his smile and look cool, but I could tell how excited and proud he was.  I’ll probably always remember that moment.

Adventure Guides Trips – As I mentioned in my coverage of the Adventure Guides program we’re in, my oldest absolutely loves these trips and we’ve had lots of memories.  My most prominent one is sledding off a massive jump they set up on a hill outside our cabin this winter.  With my youngest son and daughter to join the fray eventually, I’m sure there will be several more.

First Fish – Seeing how excited my middle son got over catching a fish is something I’ll always remember.  He’d heard stories about his older brother catching fish and kept asking me to take him fishing so we went to the local creek and caught him a small bass.  He was going nuts!

Laughing and Playing Ball – My daughter just turned 1 and the thing I remember most is the first time I started rolling a ball to her and how much she was laughing throwing it back at me.  She was giggling and lit up and it’s the happiest I’ve ever seen her.

What are Your Most Memorable Moments?

It’s that time of year again where you’ll need to start lathering up the kids and avoid those nasty sunburns and ward off cancer risk years into the future.  The problem is, you may not be getting what you paid for – and you may actually be harming your children in the process.  While I don’t subscribe to every naturo-whack news article on how everything man-made is a scheme or evil, but based on multiple studies I’ve seen from legitimate sources, there are in fact many sunscreens on the market that should be avoided.

The most prominent recent report comes from the Environmental Working Group in their 2010 sunscreen report.

Some notable sunscreen findings:

• While many sunscreens prevent sunburns, that may be little help in warding off dangerous rays or even harming you due to presence of other chemicals.
• The FDA can’t even back up the claims of manufacturers: “FDA is not aware of data demonstrating that sunscreen use alone helps prevent skin cancer”…sunscreens should not be the first choice for skin cancer prevention and should not be used as the sole agent for protection against the sun” (IARC 2001a).
• Overuse of sunscreen can actually impeded your body’s ability to produce vitamin D – the law of unintended consequences.
• The vitamin A that many brands have in their formulations has recently been found to be harmful in animal studies and may actually increase your risk of cancer (source)

The Best Sunscreens:

Aside from actual clothing and hats which are your best bet, when going full monty, the report suggests the following as top picks for combination of effectiveness with safety in mind as well:

All Terrain
Aquasport Performance Sunscreen, SPF 30
TerraSport Performance Sunscreen, SPF 30
KidSport Performance Sunscreen, SPF 30

Badger
Sunscreen for Face and Body, Unscented, SPF 30
Sunscreen for Face and Body, SPF 30 Lightly Scented
Sunscreen for Face and Body, SPF 15 Lightly Scented

Beyond Coastal
Lip and Face Screen, SPF 30

California Baby
Sunblock Stick No Fragrance, SPF 30+
Sunscreen Lotion No Fragrance, SPF 30+
Sunscreen Lotion Everyday/Year-Round, SPF 30+
Sunscreen Lotion, SPF 30+, Citronella
Sunblock Stick Everyday/Year-Round, SPF 30+

Caribbean Solutions
Natural/Biodegradable SolGuard, SPF 25
Sol Kid Kare Natural Sunscreen, SPF 25

Desert Essence
Age Reversal SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen

Episencial
Sunny Sunscreen, SPF 35

Estion
Sunscreen with Zinc, SPF 38

Jason Natural Cosmetics
Sunbrellas: Mineral Based Physical Sunblock, SPF 30+
Sunbrellas: Chemical Free Sunblock, SPF 30+
Earth’s Best: Sunblock Mineral Based, SPF 30+

Kabana Skin Care
Green Screen Organic Sunscreen Fragrance Free, SPF 20
Green Screen Organic Sunscreen, SPF 22, Skin Tone Tinted

L’uvalla Certified Organic
SPF 20 Sunscreen Face/Body

La Roche-Posay
Anthelios 40 Sunscreen Cream

Little Forest
Sunscreen Lotion For Babies and Kids, SPF 30+

Loving Naturals
Sunscreen, SPF 30+

Miessence
Reflect Outdoor Balm, SPF 15

Purple Prairie Botanicals
SunStuff, SPF 30
Sun Stick, SPF 30
SunStuff, SPF 15

Soleo Organics
All Natural Sunscreen, SPF 30+
Soleo Organics/Wyland Organics All Natural Sunscreen, SPF 30+
Soleo Organics/Atlantis Resort All Natural Sunscreen, SPF 30+

thinkbaby and thinksport
Sunscreen, SPF 30+

Trukid
Sunny Days Face and Body Stick, SPF 30+

UV Natural
Baby Sunscreen, SPF 30+
Sunscreen Sport, SPF 30+
Sunscreen, SPF 30+

Vanicream
Sunscreen Sport, SPF 35

There are other criteria; the list above looked at the popular sport category.  I was surprised to see that major brand names didn’t make the list, but in looking at major brands like Coppertone, many of them got an intermediate ranking, so at least they weren’t on the worst-list.  But forward this around, it’s a good independent resource to protect your kids from the dangers of both the sun and chemical exposure.

I’ll be the first to admit that neither I or my children have perfect diets.  We practice “everything in moderation” as opposed to the extreme rigidity of some of our friends where everything has to be 100% organic, absolutely no processed foods, nothing in a box, no additives, no fun stuff like ice cream, etc.  However, at the other end of the spectrum is a growing majority in America.  If you look around, there are a lot of overweight kids – a much higher proportion than I recall seeing when I grew up.  And once you put on the weight it’s extremely difficult to take it off.
So, we do worry about our kids, especially one of our sons who started off with some pretty severe gastro issues stemming from a premature birth.  He still hasn’t come around and is a very picky eater.  Unfortunately, he tends to favor snacks like crackers, cookies and sweets over fresh fruits and vegetables if given the choice.  So, we’ve come up with some general guidelines and tricks in an effort to ensure he has the best shot at a healthy stature as he matures, which has lifelong implications:

• High Fructose Corn Syrup – We cut this out everywhere we can.  Virtually all boxed foods, even if they’re not known as “sweets”, have high fructose corn syrup.  This stuff’s just plain nasty.  Not only does your body not metabolize it the same as natural sugars, but it actually has a different response in the brain while eating.  Ever notice when you’re eating that bag of snacks you could just go on forever and keep digging in?  When you’re ingesting high fructose corn syrup, it tricks your body into not sending/processing the same signal that signifies that you’re getting full and you just keep eating it.  It’s nasty, it’s tricky, and it’s likely one of the primary factors in the current obesity epidemic in America.
• Fresh Fruits and Vegetables – We try and have fresh food in the fridge at all times to ensure we don’t have to resort to the packaged stuff if the kids are hungry or something happens with the timing of dinner or we take a road trip or whatever.  Even if it’s the same thing (my one son will eat apples all day), it’s way better than a bag of snackfood.
• Tricking Your Kids – Since our picky eater only eats apples, we trick him into eating other stuff with none other than…the freezer!  For instance, he won’t eat blueberries.  We wanted to get a little diversity in his diet, so my wife tried freezing them.  Now, these frozen blueberries for some reason were some sort of dessert or snack to him.  Even though it’s the same food, he was much more receptive to it.
• Making Our Own Baby Food – As I’d highlighted in this article on homemade baby food it’s both healthy and a huge money saver for the first year or so of our daughter’s life.  And it’s easy!
• Avoid the Juice Drinks! – While many juice drinks say “all natural” on the label, it’s often not actually “natural ingredients” by any rational person’s definition.  When you read the label, you see all the added ingredients, not to mention that juice is SUGAR! While eating an apple or strawberry is eating a natural sugar, if your kid’s sipping on juices all day instead of water, they’re ingesting way more sugar than they need.  Not to mention, it’s also bad for their teeth.  We have a few friends whose kids have already had multiple cavities and EVEN A ROOT CANAL for a 3 year old.  Their kids drink juice in a sippy cup around the clock.

There are surely some other tips and tricks and I’d love to hear them.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a diet blog and our kids aren’t freako-natural, but there are some reasonable limits that parents can set and easy to implement changes to childrens’ diets that can ensure they at least have a decent shot at a healthy life in adulthood.  I’m realizing now in my thirties just how difficult it is to take off a few pounds.  Imagine starting off as a teenager 50 pounds overweight!

When Mom’s out for the day and it’s raining out, boredom can ensue.  Today, the wife took our daughter to a baby shower for the day, so I had the two boys.  Confronted with a lousy forecast and the novelty of new Christmas toys long gone (sad, isn’t it?), I started thinking about some neat stuff to do with them instead of plopping them in front of the TV.

We considered seeing a movie but there was nothing playing that we found interesting.  And that kind of defeats the purpose of avoiding a day full of television – it’s just a higher priced screen.

Bounce Places – We’ve been to a few of these for various birthday parties.  Whether it’s BounceU, Kids Rule, or whatever the name of the chain is, they’re pretty much the same place.  Kids take off shoes, go nuts running and bouncing through various large blow-up obstacle courses and it tires them out while Dad gets to bounce around and act like a little kid with them.  That was our first stop today.  For twenty bucks, we spent 90 minutes of quality time together going nuts.  Today they allowed walk-ins, but some days they don’t so just find a place near you and call ahead.

Arcade -This was going to be our second choice, but the place I had in mind was closed on Sundays, so we didn’t get over there.  Regardless, we don’t have games in the house (yet) and they rarely make it to an arcade so I figured this would be a fun way to spend an hour or so.  Maybe next time.

In the House: Hide and Seek -There are a million things you can do in the house on a rainy day, but we rarely play hide and seek and our 3 year old absolutely loves it.  It never gets old for him, even when he hides in the same spot every time!  Our five year old’s getting to that competitive stage where he really tries to find crazy spots to hide.  Anyway, that’s always fun for a good thirty minutes.

Arts and Crafts -My wife’s real good about stocking the house full of arts and crafts for the kids.  We have an endless supply of paper, stickers, crayons, markets, glue, etc.  So, we basically just wing it and throw together some ridiculous contraption and then present it to Mom when she gets home.

Bath – The Closer - So Mom doesn’t have to walk in and do a bath first thing in, I’m starting bath time now.  I’ll let them splash around in there for a while and chill since I usually move things along more quickly during the week and we’re starting early.  When she pops in, I can say, “They’re bathed – alright I’m gonna finally take my shower for the day after I hit the elliptical for a couple minutes” or whatever.

While a rainy day can stink since we do so much outside when it’s nice, there’s no reason to totally squander a good day with the kids.  They grow up so fast, so we might as well make the most out of these individual moments when the family’s not together and we’re not in our typical routine.

What are some of your favorite Rainy Day Activites?