I hope you read Part 1 yesterday on ways to stop being a loser. The losers I wrote about here in Part 2 take a little more thought.

Posted by Pam Young

Have you heard people say, “The kids today have short attention spans and because of quick-paced television, they’re used to watching three to four-second bites and become restless when the action is diminished.”? HOG WASH! As I sat in an Amtrak station waiting for a train that was 38 minutes late, I watched a grandmother read Curious George to her five-year-old grandson.

From my vantage point, she appeared to be a rather listless reader, void of expression, sound effects and lifted eyebrows accompanying some of Hans and Margaret’s incredible thoughts, yet the child was glued to his grandma’s side listening to the story.

When that book was finished, he pulled another from his backpack and she proceeded to read it in the same mundane way. The train turned out to be an hour late and the child remained interested in her reading the entire time. So much for the short attention span.

So here are what I believe are 6 benefits of reading bedtime stories to your children.

1. Cultivates Imagination

Now that visual stimulation is served up via television, IPads, IPhones, Xbox etc., children rarely get to tap into their imaginations unless we read to them, or until they can read. As a child, I loved radio (it was before we had television) because my imagination provided the visuals. Because we don’t have kid radio, unless we read to our kids, their ability to use their precious imaginations and be able to visualize will weaken.

I remember one Christmas, my daughter Peggy bought a bunch of children’s books at a neighborhood garage sale and recorded reading them on a cassette tape recorder for her non-reading cousins as gifts for Christmas. As adults, those cousins still speak of how they loved her gifts of being read to.

My husband Terry and I recorded books on CDs, the same way Peggy did with a cassette recorder. This way our grandchildren could listen to us read the books we gave them as gifts.

So many of us rely and depend on the lessons Marla provides us with. Marla and I sat and talked at one point and this was one of the most important things to come out of that chat.

In this video clip, the Slob Sisters demonstrate the crazy ways they came up with last minute Halloween costumes for kids and how fun they were to throw together. As usual, their television talk show hosts were somewhat speechless (that happened a lot!) when they'd shove coat hangers into tights and smear their faces with Karo syrup and coffee grounds.

The important lesson here is when we become more organized we set the stage to play with our creativity. We become creatives! Clutter gets in the way of our creativity. Decluttering and ending your "stuff management" days will pave the way to fun, creativity, new adventures and excitement on Halloween as well as all the days of the year!

If you want to fully enjoy your life, you might want to eliminate a few things that could be getting in the way of your joy. I call them happiness sappers and with just a few changes you'll eliminate stress and be on your way to the joy you were born to experience.

1. News: News is just official gossip. My definition of an investigative reporter is: an authorized, nosey gossip. I stopped watching or listening to the news after 9/11. I figure Terry, who was a television reporter, will inform me if I need to pack up and head for the hills.

2. Gossip: Since I’ve cut out the official gossip, why would I want to indulge in any unofficial info? 

3. Calendar that’s too small: A big happiness sapper is having a calendar that’s so small you can’t read your personal shorthand. “3pmTk grm Dr. rmb t tk nts.” A month later when you're trying to figure out what the heck you’re supposed to be doing on that day, chances are you'll never figure out you're supposed to take Grandma to the doctor at 3 p.m. and you need to take notes. Say goodbye to little-squared happiness sappers.

Happy Monday!

It’s stunningly beautiful today as we stand at the grand entrance to summer! The promise of the April rains came through and Mother Nature has just proclaimed two of the sweetest words I know; “Ta Da!”

When I think about TD moments I think of Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. She was the queen of grand entrances, but I’m afraid Mama Nature just passed her today, at least here in the Pacific Northwest.

Your Snuggle Bunnies are hopefully enjoying some TD moments, showing off their clean rooms and while they are at it, you are hopefully in spring cleaning mode.