Hey, Youthful Readers!

I write about a lot of different topics on this Blog, but today I’m talking about YOU! Today is Young Readers Day. The preferred method of relaxing for many people, reading is incredibly healthy and beneficial to your brain! All across the nation, grade school teachers encourage their students to read wherein they’ll find knowledge, success, and happiness.

Everyone knows that reading has its benefits. But what exactly are they? How does reading help sharpen our minds? Take a look at these four points about the health that reading provides.

Habitual reading makes you smarter.
Not only does it offer you information and knowledge, but just the act of reading gives your brain the workout it needs to improve the daily functions it carries out every day. Just the same way that lifting weights builds your muscles, reading is like pumping iron for your brain!

Reading fiction increases empathy.
When you allow yourself to get lost in a work of fiction—stories that are not based in reality—you are sharpening your ability to relate to others. In fictional stories, we read about the feelings and problems that “other people” (the characters in the story) are going through. Caring about others transforms you into a more understanding, sensible person.

Reading reduces stress.
Ever wonder why it feels so good to snuggle up with a good book? It’s relaxing, isn’t it? It certainly is. In fact, it’s so relaxing that it can actually drop your stress levels by 68% (according to a study conducted by Sussex University researchers in 2009). Need to step back after a long day? Curb your stress by picking up a book!

Reading a physical book before bed aids sleep.
E-readers and other screen devices are convenient in certain ways, but they don’t help tire your eyes the same way a physical book will. In fact, according to the Mayo Clinic, looking at a screen before bed actually deprives you of sleep. Habitually reading a real book before bed, however, creates a nightly routine that tells your body to get ready—it’s time to fall asleep soon.

So celebrate Young Readers Day by grabbing a good book and forming a healthy reading habit today. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Trick-or-Treaters!

It’s October 30! And you know what that means! Sometime between tonight and tomorrow night, it’s time to don your creepy, crazy costumes and weave about the neighborhoods, going door-to-door with a demanding request for sugary treats. Halloween is the one time of the year when scary things are celebrated and people WANT to be frightened.

But all in good fun! It isn’t any fun to really be scared. And even though Trick-or-Treating is all in good fun, it can actually be a dangerous activity on account of the poor visibility you might have while you’re out there. To help, I’ve jotted down a few tips to help you stay safe when heading out for Trick-or-Treat.

Trick-or-Treating popularly takes place from 5:30pm to 9:30pm. It starts when it’s getting dark and ends when it’s pitch black. That’s why my first tip is to:

Be Mindful of Costume Visibility
Black is a popular color for Halloween costumes, but it can’t be seen very well at dusk. It’s smart to use Trick-or-Treat bags with reflective tape and stickers to increase your visibility. Incorporate reflective materials or even glowing elements (with glow sticks or flashlights) into your costume if at all possible to help drivers to see you.

Also, masks can often times reduce the visibility of the people inside them. Try non-toxic face paint if you can instead; otherwise, be mindful of your restricted vision and try removing the mask before crossing streets.

Reduce Risk of Tripping
When putting together your costume, make sure it’s the right size. Make sure it doesn’t hang too low—how embarrassing (and potentially painful) for a mummy to trip on his own wraps or a princess to stumble over her own dress! Avoid nasty spills with a cautious costume.

Arrange Adult Supervision
Kids should always have adult supervision when out Trick-or-Treating unless their parents feel their kids are mature enough to go without. Many parents feel like 12 is old enough, but some kids mature faster than others. If your kid is old enough to Trick-or-Treat without you, remind them to only visit familiar, well-lit areas and that it’s safest to stay in groups.

These tips ought to keep you safe so you can have a spooky, but fun time Trick-or-Treating this year! Happy Halloween and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hello, Good Folks out there!

Kindness is a pretty big deal. Everyone appreciates it, it spreads its goodness everywhere it goes, and it benefits the doer of the kind deed as well as the deed’s recipient by delivering a well-deserved feeling of self-satisfaction. It’s no wonder that there are so many days on the calendar for the celebration of kindness.
Not only is today ‘Do Something Nice Day’, but there are four other days on the matter—three of which we’ve posted about on this Blog! January 24 is ‘Compliment Day’, a great day to spread your natural sunshine by saying something nice about someone. February 17 is ‘Random Acts of Kindness Day’ in which you do something nice for someone. There’s also ‘Make Someone’s Day Day’ on October 29 and ‘World Kindness Day’ just a couple weeks later on November 13.

For the Blog post I wrote on World Kindness Day, I put together a list of good deeds people can do for one another. For the ‘Make Someone’s Day Day’, I discussed altruism and how a selfless act can actually benefit not just the recipient, but you as well (as the doer of the good deed).

To touch on another, somewhat self-serving benefit of kindness for today’s post, treating others with kindness will typically return to you. It’s true! You can call it Karma if you like, but really it only makes sense to think that if you treat someone kindly, they’ll respond with kindness—treat everyone kindly and you’ll receive nothing but kindness back!

What goes around certainly does come around, so make today of all days, a kind day and see what you get back in return! It’s a great incentive to doing something nice! Happy ‘Do Something Nice Day’ and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Grandkids!

Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day, Siblings’ Day, and Dog Day—you better believe that there’s a National Grandparents’ Day. And wouldn’t you know it, Grandparents’ Day is today! I’ve previously written about the history of the day on this Blog—how it came to be and ways that you can celebrate. But today I’d like to share with you three things that you can learn from Grandma and Grandpa about life and maybe even summer camp.

Some people may think it’s hard for the younger generation to relate to their grandparents, but kids love learning about new things. Grandparents may only have ‘old tricks’, but they’re new to kids of the modern day. Here are a few things we can glean from our grandparents.

The Past
History is always more fun to learn about when you’re learning it from a source who actually lived through historical events. It can be lots of fun for kids to compare how different the world is that they are growing up in and the ones that their grandparents did. Grandparents are also typically good sources for learning about your family tree.

Skill Sets
Because grandparents grew up in a different time, they know skills that kids from your generation never had to learn such as sewing, baking, woodworking, gardening, letter-writing and so on. Grandparents can also help you out with games that you probably never heard of before. When I was younger, my grandfather taught me to play an old card game called Sheep’s Head.

Wisdom
Your grandparents have been through many more walks of life than you. Turn to them for life lessons and advice about situations where you could use the input. Grandparents know how to get through hard times and they know how to help your social skills with some playful humor.

Enjoy your visits and see what you can learn from your grandparents! And don’t forget to wish them a happy Grandparents’ Day! As always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey there, all you Nutty Folks!

Depending on your love for pecans—as well as pie—you may already know (with a certain level of zeal) that today is National Pecan Pie Day! In honor of this day, I’ve compiled a list of five interesting facts that you probably didn’t know about pecans or pecan pie.

• Since the pecan tree is native to North America, it should come as no surprise that more than 80% of the world’s annual pecan crop comes from the U.S.

•  BIG fans of pecan pie down south, it should be even LESS surprising that Albany, Georgia is the world’s pecan capitol. Albany alone holds claim to over 600,000 pecan trees! On average, each tree produces 45 pounds of pecans each year. That means Albany produces roughly 27 million pounds of pecans every year! That’s a LOT of pecans!

• An extremely heart-healthy nut, pecans deliver antioxidants, 19 vitamins and minerals, and fat—the good kind. Among other minerals, zinc is found in the pecan which is quite beneficial to the body’s testosterone production in both boys and girls.

• Roughly 78 pecans go into the average pecan pie. There are about 57 pecans in a pound, thus the average pecan pie weighs about 1.37 pounds. What does that mean? It means that, with the amount of pecans grown in Albany, Georgia, they can make roughly 19,708,029 delicious pies every year!

• Though the origin of pecan pie is somewhat hard to trace, many people credit it to the French who were introduced to the pecan by the Native Americans in the late 1800s. However, some have heard tell that pecan pie has been around since the early 1800s and originated in Georgia. There are no documented recipes that date back this far, but…you never know!

Enjoy a pecan pie of your own today and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John