Some bits and pieces to wrap up the first week of the Perfect Baby Blog‘s fragile existence:

• Why scholarly but slovenly moms are doomed to raise illiterate kids: A new study, of which there are never quite enough, has reached amusingly dire conclusions. If you’re trying to inculcate a love of reading in your kid, it’s no good to simply set a good example by reading constantly yourself, you must also tidy constantly. “Results suggest that the degree of household order is significantly and positively associated with the expressive vocabulary, Woodcock Reading Mastery, and phonological awareness skills of children whose mothers are above-average readers.” For tips on how to become magically tidy with help from a robotic robin, consult this instructional Mary Poppins video.

Help for not-quite-cool-enough dads in the 11215 area code: “Brooklyn,” the new cologne from Bond No. 9, which comes in a conspicuously attitudinal bottle printed with graffiti scribbles, is the perfect present for that Park Slope Dadster—or as New York magazine’s Adam Sternbergh memorably christened him, Grup—in your life. Its mix of woody, spicy-filled oriental notes mingled with cardamom, geranium, diaper, and bits of “I’m sleep-deprived but still revising my novel” eye-crud bring, as the press-relesse puts it “a tender, beckoning touch.”

• An ingenious way to turn St. Patrick’s Day into Easter: ManicMother, one of the TwitterMoms who’s bravely decided to follow the Perfect Baby Blog stunned me with this craft project she found in Family Fun magazine and ably executed: The Saint Patrick’s Day Treasure Box. If the supporting”legend” Family Fun provides is to be believed, leprechauns—envious of the Easter Bunny’s more successful kid-focused branding—decided they better hide something tempting every year, too.