Brushing Up

January 11, 2024

What do you know about toilets?

During my 20+ years of publishing KidsOutAndAbout.com, I have acquired a certain degree of savviness about running a media company. Being a CEO is cool, sure, but what makes me feel actually powerful are the practical bits of knowledge that can improve life for me and my family directly, like:

• Home repair
• Cooking
• Personal finance
• Auto maintenance
• Anatomy, first aid, and CPR

Improve your cooking skills, and your meals are immediately tastier and cheaper. Focus on money management, and your future is way more comfortable. Learn first aid, and you might save a life. You likely know the basics of most of these skills, but the start of a new year is the perfect time to brush up, and it's even more fun if you do this with the kids in your orbit. Fortunately, there are no unnecessary gates between your family and this information: You can almost always find great no-cost sources, like the free Red Cross app that gamifies learning first aid (download it at Apple and Google stores).

Once you know The Secret (which you already do if you read last week's column), your horizons expand fast. You'll discover how easy (and fascinatingly gross) it is to unclog your own drain, plus lots of other skills that make life easier and less expensive. Just search for a few minutes to find some you-can-do-it videos, watch them with your kids, practice, get some things wrong, get some things right. You'll discover the super-power in your brains and in your hands that no one can ever take away, and you'll be bonded by the fun of finding it together.

—Deb