Ask Bonnie

Once those lazy days of summer arrive and the schedule is packed with swimming, camp, and family vacations, it can be a challenge to find time for learning. But you don’t have to let your child’s reading skills grow cold once school’s out. There are plenty of ways to make reading a natural part of your summer fun!

Explore the library. Visit your local library to check out books and magazines that your child hasn’t seen before. Many libraries have summer reading programs, book clubs, and reading contests for even the youngest borrowers. With a new library card, your child will feel extra grown up checking out books.

Read on the road. If you’re going on a long car trip, make sure the back seat is stocked with favorite reads. When you’re not at the wheel, read the books aloud. Get some audiobooks (many libraries have large selections) and listen to them together during drive time.

Make your own books. Ask kids what they like best about summer – maybe it’s baseball, ice cream, or the pool. Then have them draw pictures of it or cut out pictures from magazines and catalogs. Help them paste the pictures onto paper to make a booklet and write corresponding text. When you’re done, read the book together. Keep it on the bookshelf and reread it when you need to fend off the cold-weather blahs!

Keep in touch. You don’t have to go away to write about summer vacation. Even kids who are staying close to home can pick out postcards and use them to tell friends and relatives about summer adventures. Ask a relative to be your child’s pen pal and encourage them to write to each other regularly.

Keep up the reading rituals. Even if everything else changes during the summer, keep up your child’s reading routines. Read together every day – whether it’s just before bedtime or under a shady tree on a lazy afternoon. And everybody loves to read at the beach. Just brush the sand off the pages. It’s no sweat!

People who are enchanted with your home the moment they walk in are most likely to buy the home, and at a fair price.

Here are some tips to help maximize the appearance of your home:

* Turn on the lights to create a warm glow and remove the shadows.
* Make sure the windows are clean and open the curtains or blinds.
* Keep the kitchen and baths clean and sparkling. Don’t leave dishes in the sink.
* Remove all clutter, make the beds, and pick up toys.
* Pack away items that may detract from a buyer’s ability to mentally move into your
home such as family pictures or teen posters.
* Make the closets look bigger by packing up the clothes you are not using.
* Create a relaxing atmosphere with soft music.
* Make people feel at home with homey scents such as freshly baked cookies or bread
or good potpourri.
* Check for pet odors and keep pets safely out of the way when your house is being
shown.
* Clean out your basement and garage and neatly stack boxes you have stored there.
* Add charm and appeal with fresh flowers and plants.

Set the stage to show your home to its best advantage.

Written by: Amy Givoni
(561)361-8555

Dust off your mops, boys, get the Swiffer out of the closet, and turn off your Xbox.

Guess what? If you do a couple of dishes, you might find yourself getting more action this spring.

A new study finds that men who do more housework are being rewarded with more sex. The Council on Contemporary Families reports that men have dramatically increased their time caring for children over the past four decades, and as a result women’s sexual desire has increased.

“If a guy does housework, it looks to the woman like he really cares about her — he’s not treating her like a servant,” Bay Area psychologist Joshua Coleman, who is affiliated with the Council on Contemporary Families, says. “And if a woman feels stressed out because the house is a mess and the guy’s sitting on the couch while she’s vacuuming, that’s not going to put her in the mood.”

Questions raised: Is this just a piece of propaganda to get guys to do more housework? If we’re going to vacuum the rug, can’t we wait until halftime? C’mon, really?

Still not getting any?

Maybe it isn’t the house work.

Source:Tom Radler

Moving to a new city or town can be a wonderful adventure. People who have made many job transfers and moves recommend researching your destination city before the move.
Visit the city on a workday and a weekend so you can see what kind of place it is in which to live and work. Use the Internet to research the area’s amenities and subscribe to your destination city’s local newspaper.

Find out from your employer what kind of relocation package will be provided. Will the cost of the move be paid for? If you have a home to sell in your current city,will your employer help with the closing costs or guarantee a buy-out if the house doesn’t sell right away? Get such offers of assistance in writing. Will you be able to afford the cost of living in your new city? It is essential to figure out what you will need in order for the move to work for you.

Here are some practical tips to help you with a relocation transition:

* Move quickly. Extended good-byes are painful and upsetting.
* Conserve cash. Have an emergency fund for surprises that may occur before, during,and right after the move.
* Be open to your new environment. The new area may be just as good as or better than the place you are leaving.
* Understand that your children may experience loss and confusion. They may act out if they can’t express their frustration or sadness.

If you find yourself needing help with relocation or if you know someone else who is relocating, I can provide excellent information about your destination city. And I can refer you to an agent who works in that area to help make this transition as smooth as possible. Please call or email me if I can help you or any of your friends and family.

written by:
Amy Givoni
Givoni Realty Corp.
amygivoni@realtor.com
(561)361-8555

Tell Mrs. Givoni that you found her on AskBonnie.com