Grab-Bag of Topics

getting boys to read, how to clean your ears, why single payer healthcare is still a bad idea, and more

There are multiple topics on my mind, none of which are worthy of making a full post. So here’s a grab bag!

Getting Boys to Read

I give parents homeschool advice on a regular basis, nearly always about math, but sometimes other topics come up, too. A recurring theme is that their little girls love to read but their little boys regard it as torture.

I’m not a parent, but I have done a lot of babysitting, and I’ve noticed something about little boys and books. Passing this along to parents has been helpful, and I’ve gotten quite a few emails back now thanking me and telling me it worked.

The vast majority of books for children are complex interpersonal narratives written by women. There’s nothing wrong with that. Interpersonal narratives can teach kids a lot about relating to others and how to be human. Fiction’s ability to help a human step into another person’s shoes is unparalleled.

But with little boys, sometimes you have to save that for later, after the reading habit has been solidified. How do you get your son to love reading?

Don’t give him interpersonal narratives. Give him books about the biggest snake, the fastest jet, the bloodiest war, the longest train, etc. Find something he’s interested in and get him books that will let him become an expert on that topic.

Then, once he’s discovered the joy of reading, you can branch out into fiction.

My friend J. Daniel Sawyer has written a lot of fiction that is boy-friendly. Hadrian’s Flight is good for ages 12 and up, as is Tales of a Lombard Alchemist (perhaps a little older than 12 if your family is very conservative). The first several chapters of The Wolf of Venus are available for free on his Substack, which is a good option — if your son wants to keep reading, getting behind the paywall is still a lot cheaper than buying a book.

How to Clean Your Ears

As someone who uses hearing aids nearly every minute I’m awake, my ears produce a lot of what audiologists tactfully call “ear debris” — wax, dead skin, etc. I’ve started using an ear camera, which works with an app on my phone, and little tools that come with it to safely clean my ears out regularly. And it’s really helping. I don’t hear better (though some friends with an abundance of wax tell me that using ear cameras is in fact helping them hear better), but my ears are less itchy and listening for long periods requires less energy. I highly recommend this practice. Here’s a link to some amazon search results with lots of possibilities.

Why Single Payer Healthcare Is Still A Bad Idea

A few years ago, during COVID, I changed my mind about single payer healthcare. This morning on Substack Notes, I wrote about a recent frustration:

And immediately started getting replies from people in the UK about how wonderful socialism is, how they never have any kind of problems at all with healthcare in their country, etc.

The fact that my problem was caused by too much government, not too little, escaped them, but what struck me the most was how they seem to think that socialism is a protection against anything at all going wrong.

This all reminded me of how and when I changed my mind about single payer healthcare. I wrote about it here, and I think it holds up. It’s also a good reminder of how nastily authoritarian a lot of people got during the most intense part of the “our patience is running thin” campaign to get everyone to get the mRNA vaccines.

Job Hunting Is Stressful AF

I had a really good first interview yesterday (for a job of the sort where four rounds of interviews is typical, so it’s still a long slog…). And I continue to apply for everything I can find that I’m even vaguely qualified for. It is stressful and draining. (My reasons for job-hunting are in a recent post, so I won’t repeat them here.) But in all the stress and frustration, all the ups and downs, it really helps to remember that a lot of people are rooting for me.

I really appreciate everyone who has been sending me leads, supportive emails, and praying for me. Thank you all, so much.