We finally received the first three Toy Story comics (issues #0 through #2) in the mail. We ordered those three issues after we bought issue #3 at the comic book store a few weeks ago. My son was excited to read them; I had to capitalize on this opportunity.

We struck a deal: if he cleaned his room, put away his toys, ate his dinner, and took a bath, all while being good, we would read issue #0 for bedtime. My son followed through on his part of the bargain. In fact, that was the quickest he’s ever cleaned up his room. I happily completed my end of the deal. After reading the comic book together, he went to bed without a fuss and I got to watch V uninterrupted.

It was a great night.

Saturday was my son’s first experience with Free Comic Book Day. I have to admit, it was my first Free Comic Book Day, too. In fact, it was probably the first time I’ve set foot in a true comic book store. I’ve been in mom & pop book stores, baseball card shops, sports memorabilia stores, board game shops, shaving stores (yes, they exist), but I’ve never been in a real comic book store. That’s pretty sad because I do consider myself somewhat of a super hero / sci-fi geek….I guess I’m just a wannabe geek.

What’s Free Comic Book Day? Check out the website for more details. I didn’t know it existed until Saturday morning when I got an email from my friend. I decided I had to take my son to see what a comic book store is all about.

We both loved it. We walked around the store looking at the different comic book bins. We checked out the posters. We took an extended peak at the toys and lunch boxes. We walked by the tables of some local artists that were signing posters and comic books. With each turn, my son said, “Dad, check out the <insert cool item>!” We were in geek heaven.

Why did I wait until now to visit the store? I would have loved this when I was a teenager.

I wasn’t ready to commit to buying something for myself, but I told my son he could pick out one comic book. He chose a Toy Story comic book. Perfect choice: he’s a big Buzz Lightyear fan and the book was geared for kids his age. We also grabbed a couple of free comics, but because we arrived late the selection was weak (Casper and Popeye…would have been great if it were 1935).

I’ve read the Toy Story comic to my son 4 times in the last two days. I ended up downloading the Marvel comic app for my iPhone, and I read my son the free Super Hero Squad comic on the app just before bed. The trip to the store is the beginning of a new hobby for my boy and me.

Image Source: book-kids.com

Well, I finally made some progress on my first 2010 Resolution. I had a business trip to Orlando a month ago, so I broke out my copy of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol. I’ve read all of Dan Brown’s book up to this one. Some have been great (Angels & Demons), some have been good (The Da Vinci Code), and some have outright sucked (Deception Point).

So I had to read the latest Dan Brown work. It shouldn’t be a surprise, but The Lost Symbol follows the same formula as his other books:

• Something bad happens to a key person that knows Robert Langdon
• Robert somehow gets involved in the investigation
• Robert teams up with a friend/relative of the key person
• The weird bad guy is manipulating everybody
• A series of clues and symbols help Robert on his journey to unravel the mystery

Of course, there were some twists and turns throughout the plot that make the book fun to read. But I’m not here to write a review. I’m here to report on a goal that I set.

I started the book on a Sunday and finished within 5 days. I had a good time reading it. I felt a little smarter for having read it (even though it’s a novel). It got me pumped to read some more books. Mission accomplished. Now I just need to start the next book before I get lazy again.

It is manly to read books.  It is even manlier to read a wide range of books.

In the not too distant past, I loved reading books.  I read the Harry Potter books, Tom Clancy books, political books, self-help books, personal finance books, religious books, and the latest best seller novels.  My wife and I frequented a local used bookstore.   On more than one occasion, I purchased books at the airport bookstore because I forgot to bring one from home.

But something changed four years ago: I had kids and I let that part of me die.  It wasn’t my kids’ fault.  I still have time for fantasy baseball, video games, Netflix, and my TV shows.  It is my fault I stopped reading.  I got lazy.

Well, it’s time to change.  My first resolution for 2010 is to read more books.

Book orders are expensive.  All parents will experience this phenomenon.  Well, my son got his first book order last month at preschool.  Here’s how the the whole thing went down:

1. Teacher sent book order home with my son
2. My son found at least a dozen books he wanted
3. I complained that it would cost too much money (someone’s got to be the gatekeeper)
4. My wife helped him narrow it down to 3 or 4 books
5. $40 later, my son received the books he ordered
6. He’s read (or looked at) those books just about everyday since

I’m glad the kid wants to read (or have us read to him), I really am.  But am I $40 glad?  Last month I was.  My son got 4 cool books about planets and space.  He loves them.  Some nights he even takes a few of the books to bed with him.  On the other hand, we simply can’t do $40 book orders every month.

Well, this week my son got another book order.  Steps 1-3 were followed just like before.  This time my wife and I agreed that the selection of books just wasn’t as good.  So we let him pick out one book, but there were two books he really wanted.  One was a book of science experiments.  The other was a children’s “encyclopedia” – - basically a book that has cool facts for each letter.  My wife researched the books on Amazon.com and decided the encyclopedia book just wasn’t worth buying.  With her encouragement and influence, he picked a cool book about science experiments.  Overspending avoided.

We now have two experiences with book orders as a parent.  Sure, these book orders may seem trivial, but we did learn a few things from the process:

1. I’m happy that my son has an interest in reading, especially science books
2. We don’t want an expensive book order every month
3. We will the read the Amazon reviews for the books that are borderline purchases before making a decision
4. Guiding my son to the right answer was better than forcing him to the right answer

Now we just have to wait a few weeks to get the book…