FAMILY
A b r e a th
o f fr e s h
a ir
M o m -o f-tw o R eb ecca C o h e n w o n ’t let a n y th in g — ra in , sn ow , o r slu sh — k eep h er fa m ily
fro m sp e n d in g tim e in th e g re a t o u td o o rs.
In fact, she made a pact to get her kids
outside every single day for a year,
an d co m p ile d h er g e t-o u t-th e -d o o r stra teg ie s in to th e
b o o k 15
M in u tes O u tsid e
(S o u rce b o o k s, availab le M arch 2011; $15). H er a d v ice fo r g e ttin g
th e fa m ily m o tiv a te d w h e n it’s frig id out? “ T h e first ste p o u t th e d o o r is th e h a rd e st, b u t
m ake it fu n b y a sk in g y o u r ch ild to lead y o u on an a d v e n tu re o f h is ch o o sin g ,” C o h e n
su g g e sts. “A fte r a w h ile w e ’re u su a lly p e e lin g o ff a la y e r— and sta y in g o u t lo n ger.”
C o m m u n ity c o o k b o o k
N o t h i n g
s a y s
‘ I
c a r e ’
l i k e
a
h o m e m a d e
d i s h .
I t ’ s
a
t i m
e - t e s t e d
g o o d w i l l
g e s t u r e
f o r w e l c o m i n g
n e w n e i g h b o r s ,
s e n d i n g
c o n d o l e n c e s ,
o r
m a k i n g
t h e
r o u n d s
o f s o c i a l
“ m e e t - a n d - e a t s . ”
B u t
w h o ’s
g o t
t i m e
t o
w h i p
u p
y e t
a n o t h e r
m e a l
w h e n
y o u ’v e
g o t
y o u r
o w n
f a m i l y
t o
f e e d ?
E n t e r
t h e
G o o d
N e i g h b o r
C o o k
B o o k
( A n d r e w s
M c N e e l ,
2 0 1 1 ,
$ 1 7 ) ,
a
c o l l e c t i o n
o f r e c i p e s
s p e c i f i c a l l y
s u i t e d
t o
s u c h
o c c a s i o n s .
M o s t
d i s h e s
h a v e
a
p r e p
t i m e
o f j u s t
1 0 - 3 0
m i n u t e s ,
a n d
a l l
a r e
c r a f t e d
f o r
s p i l l - f r e e
t r a n s p o r t a t i o n .
G a m e
on!
M id -w in te r is th e p e rfe c t tim e to ch a lle n g e y o u r fa m ily to a b o ard g a m e co m p e titio n . T o
k eep th e e n e rg y levels h ig h , t r y p la yin g sp eed ro u n d s o r p lace b e ts a g a in st w h o g e ts to
m ake th e h o t co co a .
You can also mix things up w ith these new tw ists on old favor-
ites: The Game of Life: 50th Special A nniversary Edition
($18, H asbro) adds five n ew
co in s to th e a c tio n — th a t is, if y o u ca n k eep th em u n til y o u r “ re tire m e n t.” In h o n o r o f th e
cla ssic g a m e ’s 75 th ,
Monopoly: Revolution
($35, H asbro) co m es w ith a ro u n d b o ard ,
e le c tro n ic b an ker, an d a d ju ste d -fo r-in fla tio n m o n e y aw ard s (w h en y o u p ass “ G o ” y o u ’ll
n o w c o lle c t $2 m illio n , in stea d o f $200).
Scrabble Flash
($30, H asbro) e lim in a te s th e
p ain o f sta rin g at seven le tte rs fo r 15 m in u te s stra ig h t: T h e fu lly d ig itiz e d v e rsio n o f th e
w o rd -cre a tio n g a m e u ses e le c tro n ic tile s th a t tra ck y o u r w o rd s as y o u sh u ffle th e m , and
se ssio n s ca n b e as fa st-p a ce d as 75 seco n d s.
t h e m o t h e r b o a r d
a m i l l i o n w o m e n s t r o n g
I»
»T *!' I.» 11
I I
f \
1 A
I.* t '
A
11 P A II
D in n e r
a n d a m o v ie ? Y e s , p le a s e .
T h is cla ssic e v e n in g plan is th e b e s t w a y to k eep y o u r w h o le fa m ily h a p p y and e n g a g e d
w h ile sta y in g sn u g at h o m e, sa y 98 p e rce n t o f o u r
B e tte r H om es a n d G a rd en s
o n lin e
co m m u n ity o f m om s, T h e M o th e rb o a rd . O th e r b elo ved a c tiv itie s d u rin g th e c h illy season?
C o o k in g , b a k in g , p la y in g b o ard g a m e s, o r sim p ly h a n g in g o u t— w h ile k e e p in g w a rm , o f
co u rse . “ W e lo ve w a tc h in g m o v ie s o r sp re a d in g o u t an in d o o r p icn ic n ear o u r to a s ty liv in g
ro o m fire p la ce ,” says on e m om .
“It’s nice to kick back and relax w ith w arm stew and a
good movie when the w eather is crum m y,”
says an o th er. ■
