Some moments in life are both surreal and wonderful.

For instance, a few weeks ago, I was sitting in Bob Schultz's Prairie Canyon Ranch "Happy Days" Saloon, with some 16 other characters. We were playing poker with a mound of silver dollars (rounded up by Woody Shenk, President of Norwest Bank in Highlands Ranch). We were tossing down shots of pure apple juice, and on occasion, even the hard stuff: root beer. Outside, a shrill wind whined and whirled.

I hate to admit this so soon after Washington's birthday, but I've decided that I cannot tell the truth.

It started when I got three "survey" phone calls in two days. The first was at work. Someone was calling to ask for the name of the person who orders our computer supplies. It wasn't a sales call, he explained. He was just updating his company's database.

Recently I spent most of an afternoon sitting in a Colorado House Committee hearing.

I get irritated by the assertion of some schools that their job is to teach kids how to think. I'm quite certain that I was thinking before I attended school. The real surprise is that even after almost 2 decades of schooling, I can STILL muster a thought, if I work at it.

But the purpose of this week's column isn't to say what America's schools should or should not be doing. It's to focus on just four things YOU can do to help your kids grow up literate.