How-To Books, Just For Fun

Although I said in my last post that life with five children is never dull, that is not entirely accurate. In fact it can get quite boring, because while I have plenty to do, much of it is repetitive and uninteresting stuff: cooking, cleaning, etc.

So every once in a while, I get the urge to spice things up a bit. And no, I don’t mean anything weird by that--this is strictly G-rated here. Sheesh, people!

So I was in the library and I saw a book called “How to Change Someone You Love,” and my first thought was, That would be an annoying thing to catch your spouse reading. And then I thought, Maybe I’ll check it out, and leave it lying around, and see what my husband says. Just for fun, you know? So I did.

Now, this is a real book. I am not kidding. Check it out at left there! It promises “Four Steps to Help You Help Them.” This seems so obviously aimed at gypping gullible women out of $24.95. (Because who wants to change the one they love more than women? I ask you!) First off, if there’s only four steps, why does it take you almost three hundred pages to tell them to me? And second, isn’t it IMPOSSIBLE to change someone else? It seems a little irresponsible to me to give someone false hope that they can change another person. But I digress...

So anyways…on Monday I checked out the book and put it on the kitchen counter. It sat there all afternoon. While I was dishing out Jell-O after dinner (it’s almost like fruit, and therefore healthy, right?) my ten-year-old daughter saw the book. She said, “Why would you want to change the one you love?”

Ah, the innocence of youth! One day you will know, my child.

All week I moved the book from the dining room table to the kitchen counter and back, trying to get my husband to notice it. But he had no comment. Either he didn’t see it, or he’s been intentionally ignoring it, which I think is more likely. At this point, when it’s been almost a week, I pretty much have to either say straight out, “Did you see this book?” or forget about it. But I think mentioning it would kind of take the fun out of the whole thing.

So I guess my experiment is a failure.

Oh well, at least I got a little extra exercise this week, moving a book around the house at random, right?

Maybe I’ll write a book myself: How To Eat Jell-O and Lift Books for Fun and Profit! Anybody got an extra $24.95?