I'm sporting two band-aids on my fingers. In the dry of winter, the skin on my hands shrivels up and becomes papery. Add to that my compulsion to wash my hands when I touch anything having to do with Boon Dog, or diapers, or laundry, or even mail (yes, I've had issues with the safety of mail ever since the anthrax scares after Sept. 11). Compounding the problem is my seeming inability to dry my hands after I wash them. Yes, logically I know that the moisture that evaporates off of wet hands includes what tiny amounts of natural moisture I had had, but still I don't do dry my wet handsproperly. Maybe I do it to subvert Husband's wishes.
I love Dr. Seuss. I'm working with my five year-0ld, we'll just call him Cheeseball, (see The Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants), and last night I whipped out Hop on Pop. At first he was a bit skeptical about reading (we'd read a word here and there occasionally, but I've tried not to push it), but as I gently worked with him, he was able to go 6 or 7 pages before going to bed. I've done Hop on Pop with my older children and while it's never been completely smooth sailing, they've all enjoyed such pride from being able to finally read a book.