I love to read, and I have a friend who loves to drop off boxes of magazines after she’s read them. It’s a great relationship because I can’t afford all the subscriptions I’d like to have, and she doesn’t have to feel guilty about filling her recycle bin with gently used magazines. I don’t subscribe to television either so the only things I see on the screen are Dora The Explorer and Disney Princess dvds. Magazines and the internet are where I get most of my information and of those two, I prefer the magazine format. I tend to multitask on the computer, tabbing back and forth between my work, Facebook, CelebrityBabyScoop, and Pinterest. When I sit down and look at a magazine it has my full attention, at least when my baby is asleep. Here are five things I’ve learned while reading magazines.
Cooking Skills
Not only have I learned how to prepare a lot of great meals from reading recipes in magazines, I’ve learned cooking techniques. One of the best tips I ever learned that has saved me tons of clean up time is to always heat my pan before adding oil to prevent food from sticking. This works for all kinds of frypans, woks, and griddles. The saying goes, “hot pan, cool oil, no-stick”.
Organizing And Time Saving Tips
Real Simple is my favorite magazine for finding organizing ideas and clever ways to simplify life. A great tip I learned here is to buy birthday cards in bulk and always have a book of postage stamps. This saves countless mad dashes to the drugstore where I would invariably find several other things I didn’t know I needed.
Parenting Advice
A great tip that I learned in a magazine and use on a daily basis is to give a toddler choices. I never ask my two and a half year old what she wants to wear, because the answer will be 100% of the time, “My princess dress, and dance slippers, and my crown.” Instead, I ask her if she wants to wear this outfit or that one. It gives us each some control over the situation. I also never discuss wardrobe in front of the open closet or dresser drawers because it can turn a 5 second decision into a 2 hour fashion show. I pull out the options while she is busy with something else and present them when it’s time to get dressed.
What Men Really Want
It turns out men want to hear how much we appreciate it when they do the blue jobs. When he finally checks a task off the honey do list we nag about constantly, he wants someone to sing, “For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow” and hand him a cold beer.
Everyone Should Be Airbrushed
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was an Instagram type app that took every photo, and highlighted our cheekbones and thinned our arms? If gorgeous women who make millions for a single movie, and marry super hot actors need to be airbrushed to be in a magazine, doesn’t it follow that the rest of us mere mortals need help too?
Lina Grant is a businesswoman and website designer and mom. He also enjoys blogging and recently set up his blog using one of the many wordpress magazine themes.
