THE HISTORY OF FATHER’S DAY _ Father’s Day, contrary to popular misconception, was not established as a holiday in order to help greeting card manufacturers sell more cards. In fact, when a “Father’s Day” was first proposed in the early 1900s, commercially produced Father’s Day cards had not yet become part of the tradition. Sonora Louise Smart Dodd (often referred to at the time as Mrs. John B. Dodd) first proposed the idea of a “Father’s Day” in 1909 in Spokane, Washington. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran who was widowed when his wife (Dodd’s mother) died in childbirth with their sixth child. Smart was left to raise the children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state, and it was only after Dodd became an adult that she fully appreciated the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his family as a single parent. One of the earliest widely recognized Father’s Day services was held on July 5, 1908, in Fairmont, West Virginia, to honor fathers who had died in a mining disaster; the first citywide Father’s Day celebration inspired by Dodd’s efforts was observed on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge expressed support for the idea of a national Father’s Day, and in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation designating the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day; the day was later established as a permanent national holiday by Congress and signed into law in 1972. Father’s Day has become a day to not only honor your father, but all men who act as a father figure. Stepfathers, uncles, grandfathers, and adult male friends are all honored on Father’s Day.
BATHROOM WARS _ A survey of couples finds that 70 percent are currently in the middle of a “bathroom war” with their significant other. For men, researchers say the biggest issue was how much hair their partner left in the shower drain without cleaning it. For women, they were turned off by the mess and smells a boyfriend left behind in the toilet. According to a third of those surveyed, their partner does way too much relaxing in the bathroom and hogs the shower. Over half of the couples say they argue about each others’ bathroom habits up to three times a week. Researchers say the biggest pet peeves couples have center around their partner’s toilet habits. Leaving the toilet paper roll empty was the biggest annoyance couples had. A partner who didn’t clean the toilet finished as the second biggest problem.
YOU SHOULD PROBABLY CLEAN YOUR LEGO BRICKS _ LEGO bricks are perfectly designed to construct anything builders can imagine. But those interlocking nooks and crannies that make them great building blocks are also breeding grounds for bacteria. And if the pieces are handled every day, they can get filthy fast. To make LEGO play sessions more sanitary for you and your kids, LEGO has a brick cleaning guide on its website. The company recommends washing the bricks by hand using warm water (no hotter than 104°F) and a cloth or sponge. Using mild detergent will sanitize the plastic without damaging it. After soaping up the individuals blocks, rinse them well with clear water and set them out to dry before returning them to your toy bin. The most important thing to remember when cleaning LEGO pieces is to protect them from intense heat. Because LEGO products are made of plastic, hot water from your dishwasher or tap could warp their parts and render them unusable. This is also why you should never dry wet bricks with a hair dryer or microwave. Instead, spread them out on a towel and let them dry gradually. To speed up the process, try laying them in front of an electric fan.
