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How Parents Teach Children to Tidy Up Toys
The Wall Street Journal To keep the toys tidy, Susan Lutz Klauda finally turned to her Excel spreadsheet skills. Dr. Klauda, a 35-year-old Washington, D.C., education researcher, decided she was “fed up with the toys overtaking our living room,” especially after the birth of her second child earlier this year. She created a spreadsheet that labeled more than 100 household toys by category (arts & crafts, building sets and games) and developmental level (baby, toddler or preschool). Then she brought most of them to basement storage. Every couple of weeks, she selects a few to bring upstairs.
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Whether you face your past or walk into your future, time and space are complex
The Guardian: Time is a deeply confusing thing for us humans to think about – and the ways in which we talk about it don’t always help. For instance, here’s a heads-up to my editors: if you commission an article from me, then try to “move the deadline forward”, don’t expect me to send it to you sooner.
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Take Notes From the Pros
The New York Times: When it comes to taking lecture notes, Laura Gayle, a sophomore at Florida State University, has her methods. A smiley face connotes an important person. If the professor says, “Make sure you know this,” she uses an asterisk. A triangular button signals a video clip played in class. Later, she will organize the notes, write a video summary and check uncertainties against the textbook or with the professor. For “Introduction to Classical Mythology,” she’ll even alphabetize a list of Greek gods and goddesses. Then, a few days before the exam, she puts it all up for sale.
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What Makes a Child an Art Prodigy?
The Atlantic: Stand before any abstract painting—try a Jackson Pollock or a Cy Twombly— and it’s inevitable someone will say: My child could have done that. For many, the dripping splatters or scribbles seem haphazard and simplistic, not unlike something an average toddler might do with a set of finger paints. And as contemporary art becomes more conceptual, it’s harder to know what makes a piece of art great: the object itself, the story behind it, or both?
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It Literally Pays to Have a Reliable Spouse
New York Magazine: Conscientiousness is not really up there among the sexiest qualities a person can have, but maybe it should be. New research in Psychological Science found that people who have careful, reliable partners tend to do better at work; they make more money, get more promotions, and are happier at their jobs. Marry a put-together person, in other words, and their put-together-ness will spill over into your own life, even into your workplace. Suddenly, put-together-ness seems very sexy. The researchers gathered their data via an annual survey in Australia that collects economic and social information.
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The Case Against Sharing Your Epic Vacation Photos on Social Media
Entrepreneur: We all have at least one of those friends (some of us are those friends), the kind whose Facebook/Instagram/Twitter feed is used exclusively to post photos and captions documenting how insanely epic life is: Here I am waltzing on a beach in St. Tropez! Here I am eating truffle shavings at a five-star restaurant in Tuscany! Wait, here I am right after getting a major promotion! Psychologically, it makes sense that many of us use social media to broadcast all the awesome stuff going on in our lives.
