What Works for One Dad

It’s not in your mind.

Rainy days can put parents at their wits’ end.

So Tom McMahon, a psychology professor and counselor at Ohlone College in Fremont, Calif.--and more important, a father of girls ages 5 and 2--has spent the last year and a half gathering tips from parents across the nation.

The results will appear in his soon-to-be-published book, “It Worked for Me.”

“Creating situations in which children can take action work the best,” he says.

A rainy-day toy box--in which parents put away one-third of a child’s toys to bring out on inclement days--is one of the most common suggestions.

“I had one mother from Park City, Utah, who said she often lets her kids have a pool party in the bathtub when they get snowed in,” McMahon says. “She’d let them put on their bathing suits, have beach toys and eat Popsicles in the tub.”

McMahon also suggests pitching a pup tent in the living room or making a hide-out with a blanket and a card table.

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