Perfect kids

Goal setter: You want your child to be successful at everything, but is it possible to be too perfect?

Get the facts and learn how to make positive choices that affect both you and your children at a workshop 7-8:30 p.m. Monday at Jewish Family Service, 11223 Cornell Park Drive, Blue Ash. The class, taught by Laura Stanton, is $16. Details, 469-1188.

Lighten up

Travel time: Planning a trip to see family for Thanksgiving and Christmas? If you've got young children that probably means you'll be hauling lots of stuff. To lighten the load, try these tips from Parenting magazine:

• Rent gear at your destination. Baby's Away delivers car seats, cribs and more to 40 areas around the country (www.babysaway.com) .

• Clean out your purse. That's probably at least a pound in old receipts and spare change.

• Pack normally, then take out half the clothes. Seriously.

• Don't load up on diapers. Pack enough for the journey and buy more when you get there.

• Staying awhile? Mail heavy items before you go.

Hot topic

Spare the rod: What do couples with children disagree about most? According to a Parenting.com poll, it's discipline techniques. Forty-two percent of respondents said they argue most about how to discipline their kids. Other top responses were keeping the house in order (32 percent) and safety concerns (10 percent).

Rally round

Eat this up: According to a poll conducted by Lenox, 75 percent of the 1,000 Americans surveyed this year reported they or someone in their family sets the table for dinner at least once a week. The numbers are up from 65 percent in 2001 and 72 percent in 2002. That's good news for the folks at Lenox, who make tabletop and giftware, but it could also indicate that families are gathering around the dinner table more and enjoying meals together.

Read this

Help kids read better: Studies show that about 40 percent of American school-age children are reading below their grade level and that about 60 percent of children have difficulty mastering reading, according to Partnership for Reading, a collaborative effort by three federal agencies.

However, poor readers can bring their skills up to grade level in 90 percent to 95 percent of the cases with prevention and early intervention. The organization is offering two free booklets to assist parents.

Access them online at www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/ and click on "Recommended Resources." Booklets also can be ordered via e-mail at edpubordersedpubs.org, by calling (800) 228-8813 or writing to the National Institute for Literacy, EdPubs, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398.