v 5 issue 30: Boys will be boys

Calling all boys and girls too. We have selected some of our favorite items that your boys will be proud to own. Plus: Author Max Elliot Anderson shares his action-adventure books and the story behind why he became an author.


Cover by Brittany Stover








1 iStyle Originals has taken on the task of gearing up little ones for the iGeneration. Onesies, snapshirts, and bibs are available for those who rock, burp, nap... Sizes start as small as 6-12 months for short sleeves, and bibs are one size fits all. Mention Tot Trends in instruction box when placing an order to receive a Free baby bib.

2 The mini kickboard, with it's award-winning design, is constructed with 3 wheels for greater stability and driver control. Two polyurethane wheels in front help with the "lean and steer" of the scooter and provide a smooth, quiet ride. Perfect for young scooters of 3-5 years.

3 T-Rex is safely transported from the Jurassic Period into modern times on the Dinosaur Treasure Tee from Aardvark. A petite-sized version of the most feared carnivore is safely trapped inside a clear plastic bubble and placed upon an olive green tee with a great prehistoric background.

4 Vintage soft & lightweight, the King Bee Tee crowns the mightiest of tots with a rank of superiority. Two capitalized and boldly stated words have the ability to transform even a drone into royal-tee. Originated at Southern Brand Co. where a big YEE-HAW goes into every stitch! Enter code: TOT15 for 15% discount thru 3/31/10.

5 New from Deux Par Deux for the Spring of 2010 is the Coeur de Rockeur Shirt & Pants Set. Rugged and sturdy like the boys who wear them, each set comes with coordinated pants and a tri-colored short sleeve tee with guitar graphics. Available at mylildarlingsboutique.com. Enter code: TTWFREE for free shipping.

6 Huddy Buddy is a full-service, kid-friendly & convenient clothing store for boys (& girls...but we're talking about the boys today!). Like most boys, the Huddy Buddy Fuel Co. is ALWAYS full of gas and this tee markets that quality perfectly. Enter code: TOTS15 for 15% off your purchase.

7 A playful primate hangs around for good times on the Monkey Around Tee from Hatchling. The green, 100% organic cotton tee is available in sizes 2T-6T. Machine washable and oh-so-soft. Enter code: TTW20 for 20% off your purchases.

8 With over 2 hours of fixing fun, The Best of Bob the Builder DVD gets down & dirty digging up some of the greatest episodes of HIT Entertainment's ongoing classic. A great choice for new & old fans alike. Includes the extended episode, When Bob Became a Builder which delves into the history of Bob and the Can Do Crew.


This weeks mom tips:

Time Saving Tip: One of the easiest ways to start managing your time is to get a planner. This can be a paper planner or an electronic one. The key is to find one that fits your lifestyle and your personality. If you buy one that you don’t like, you won’t want to use it very much, and that defeats the whole purpose.

When you find a planner that you enjoy, create a regular schedule. If you are a creative type, you may balk at this suggestion, but you will find that living with a schedule can allow you to have more free time.

You can break your schedule down in any way that makes sense to you. You may want to group tasks by day or even by week. Just as long as you find time to get it all done. As you are scheduling your time, don’t forget to schedule some time for yourself.

When you schedule your tasks, it is important to prioritize them. This way, you’ll know what activities are the most important and you’ll know what things you need to work on first.




Health tip: Earache Home Remedies
Earaches are common among adults and children. They are most likely caused by too much wax forming in the ear, or an infection. In either case there are earache home remedies you can use to alleviate the pain and irritation caused by this common condition.

- Apply a lightly warmed heating pad to the ear, and take aspirin.
- Keep infected ears dry and clean; wipe away any discharge with cotton.
- Never use Q-tips to remove ear wax.
- Warm up some baby oil and place a few drops in the ear.
- For wax build up, place a few drops of mineral oil into the ear. Then use an ear bulb implement to withdraw the wax.
- Hydrogen Peroxide has also been effective in ridding wax in the ear quite efficiently.

While earaches can be very painful for children, it is always best to visit your pediatrician to determine the cause of the earache and the method of treatment. For adults, the same holds true although you can try the treatments above. If there is no relief, the condition may be serious enough to warrant a visit to your doctor.

Depending upon whether the cause of your earache is an infection or wax buildup, you can be assured your doctor has the tools available to relieve your pain, and will most likely prescribe antibiotics or ear drops if necessary. Keep in mind, the time to become concerned is when the middle and inner ear is affected, causing you loss of hearing or signs of acute infection. In either case, earache home remedies may be applied in the short term.


Books For Boys...And Girls

Author Max Elliot Anderson
shares his action-adventure and mystery books written especially for boys and the story behind why he became an author.


I grew up hating to read. In a family of seven children, I wasn't especially pushed to read, so I never formed good reading habits. This was ironic because my father has published over 70 books. A number of these were written for children.

A few years ago I decided to look into some of the reasons for my lack of interest in reading. My findings lead me to begin writing action-adventure and mystery books, for readers 8 - 13, that I would have liked as a child. My books are highly visual, with lots of humor, dialog, and plenty of heart-pounding action. My purpose was to craft books that would excite the interest of reluctant readers, especially boys.


After a detailed study into why I didn't like to read, and looking at books that were written for children, I set out to write the kind of stories I would have read when I was a child.

During my study, I discovered books with large blocks of copy, making it easy for a reluctant reader to lose his place on the page. Books tended to be produced on a brown shade of paper with small type. A reluctant boy reader is not going to be interested in endless sections of detail and description. He wants something happening on every page, fast action, and humor.

My books are larger than most, the paper is bright white, and the type is larger. Sentences and paragraphs are short, the books contain a lot of dialog and humor, along with heart-pounding action and adventure. Most chapters end in a cliffhanger, nearly forcing the reader to start the next chapter.

The first seven books are Newspaper Caper, Terror at Wolf Lake, North Woods Poachers, Mountain Cabin Mystery, Big Rig Rustlers, Secret of Abbott's Cave, and Legend of the White Wolf. Each book takes place in a different part of the country with different characters, settings, and plots.

Readers and reviewers have likened my books to The Hardy Boys, modern day Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn, Nancy Drew, Star Wars, Tom Swift, Scooby-Doo, Lemony Snicket, and adventure author Jack London. These will soon be republished by a new publisher. And a new series, The Sam Austin Mystery & Adventure Series is in the works. The first three manuscripts have been completed.

Remember, readers are the leaders others follow.