It's one of those unfortunate parts of parenting that we look back with regret at things that we did wrong with our kids. We focus on the mistakes and envision hours of analysis that will happen later to undo those mistakes. I'll forever beat myself up for not putting Ian in a private pre-school program that would have provided him with better therapy ealier on. But today, I'm going to focus on the positive.

 A short brag. Jonah is coming home with a folder full of perfect scores on his tests. He's plowing through book after book, which thump off his top bunk when he finally falls asleep at night. He's participating in the computer programming club and the school newspaper. He was one point away from getting a perfect score on his state math test. He tells me with shock that he's the teacher's pet in English.

Jonah has never been the teacher's pet before. We knew that he was very smart, but the school administered IQ tests didn't show it (at first). Those IQ tests were unreliable; there was a 20 point gap between years. Still, the teachers used them to size up the kids and to determine placement in the G&T program. He daydreamed in class. He was fidgety. His handwriting was sloppy. He was over looked.

Both Steve and I were also daydreaming, fidgety kids, so we empathized. We downplayed the B+'s and decided that the most important skill that Jonah needed was to develop a love of reading. We took the kids regularly to Barnes and Noble and bought them one book each. We read every night to Jonah until he turned 11. Now, I'll read books along with him, and we'll discuss them. (This is actually really fun. There are some great YA books out there.) We had mandatory reading time every night before bed. We have a bookcase of kids' books in their playroom.

Question of the Day: OK, parent brag time! What are you doing right?