Have a Cozy Weekend.

Mary Oliver’s wonderful pup was Percy! Fascinating interpretation about the last three lines being about death. I read the poem very literally as Percy’s suggestions on how to live life. Sleeping as a pup next to a human poikilotherm would be to give up your body heat (one of the best things about snuggling a dog!) and very much to trust. I <3 Mary Oliver! Check out her compendium of poems, "Dog Songs".

I LOVE to travel with my family and this is the perfect weekend getaway! So Cozy and sweet!

I did the birthday quiz for my mom’s 70th but I made it way too hard and no one could get it! Whoops.

Wait – so what do I do if I actually want cookies to stay *crunchy*? So far, eating immediately helped, so maybe this is an academic problem…

I have not seen One Fine Morning yet, but I was lucky enough to enjoy a screening of Living with a discussion after with the director, Oliver Hermanus and the always charming lead actor, Bill Nighy. It’s a lovely quiet film. Possibly predictable message of fully living your “one wild and precious life” per Mary Oliver. But well done and worth seeing.

When I was deployed to Iraq my cousin would use the bread trick in a container of cookies she mailed to me in a care package. Totally works. Soft cookies in a tough spot.

Oooo the bread trick also works with brown sugar! If it ever gets hard and dried out, slip a bit of bread into the bag, reseal and it magically softens the brown sugar again.

I’m deep in the baby/toddler phase of life, but I loved the parenting preteens article. My favorite thing about being a parent is just seeing these kids, who are such whole people from day one, learn to navigate their wild and messy and joyful life. I’m sure that stage will have so many challenges like every stage does, but it’s also pretty cool to be part of it.

I am recovering from having my gallbladder removed in emergency surgery so I am going to spend the next week reading all of Cup of Jo, binging Netflix and counting down the minutes until I can swim in the ocean again.

Best advice I’ve heard lately for parenting tweens/early teens. They are essentially toddler adults. This just resonated with me. All the skills you used to parent a toddler, patience and understanding, managing tantrums and outbursts, fights for independence, snuggles and being a safe place, are needed again. Reminding myself of this has made it a lot easier for me to stay calm and remember to focus on being loving rather than reactive during the mood swings and battles of this time.

Evil Witches head witch here! Thanks, Jo for sharing–I’m glad people are finding the post helpful/relatable. I want to give credit to the author of that tween quote in particular, Elizabeth Gomez, an amazing/hilarious Chicago writer/mom you can follow here:

https://mixedracetape.substack.com/

happy weekend, all: stay warm.

Anyone else read the great Roxane Gay piece and, two days later, find themselves randomly breaking into song?

“Turn around, bright eyes ….”

My toddler and I have a word for when we need alone time. It is “SPACE!” and sometimes we say it like that too. I hope it stays with us through her teen years because it’s been really helpful. Solitude is essential for healthy family life but we don’t always need it at the same time and it’s helped a lot to communicate about it.

Unrelated but on the topic of Jo’s podcast walks – when I try this, the car noise drowns out my earphones. How do you all make this work? Do you have noise canceling headphones? Or maybe just better headphones then the freebie earbuds I use?

That quote about raising a pre-teen is so perfect, hilarious, and tender. We are shepherding a 12 year old daughter through this complicated life currently. She is a go hard, straight through the middle of things, budding scientist–in a world that asks women and girls to take the long way around and apologize for being late. My main goal is to offer a secure and protective space for her to do exactly what she’s doing because what she’s doing (and who she is) is exactly right.

Fashion advice ladies- going out for a girl friend’s birthday next week in the city. Confession- I have not been OUT out in years. Three small children and single-momdom crushed my social life. I have no clothes besides work attire and sweats. What do 40-something people wear into the city to look cool but not trying too hard? If it was summer I would just throw on a dress, but it’s winter which involves oh so many more layers and more opportunities to screw up the outfit.

I have seen One fine morning. I quite liked it but maybe not entirely. Although, the thing I kept thinking kind-of-proudly was that it feels so European (I am European) in its being non-judgemental and presenting life as it is. I wondered how an American audience would receive it so I am very curious to know your opinion. Please report :)

Good morning! Did anyone happen to bookmark the post with reader small businesses? And more specifically, a reader whose friend made unique claw clips for updos? With a two year old, a four month old, and a four minute commute, I’m leading all the way in to the easy up do with a claw cup trend!

I have been inspired by all of the posts and comments about people finding themselves or stepping out on a limb and trying something new. After reading about an annual girls trip and the solo birthday trip to a fun hotel, I texted my closest friend and we booked a mom night away. She didn’t hesitate when I asked, “do you want to go away for a night?” Her and I are both pregnant with our second child, due within a month of each other. I can’t wait to soak in the whirlpool tub and then watch something fun with her while we wear a face mask. Thank you for the inspiration. I can’t wait to book more trips in the future.

When my children were pre-teens (a long time ago) I don’t really recall it being very different or any more difficult than, say, when they were about 8. When I was a teacher, I enjoyed my classes of 11 year olds because they were still fun and good company, but also capable of interesting conversation and points of view. The best advice I ever heard was from a fellow teacher: as they get older, move the boundaries. But don’t remove them. I thought it summed it up very neatly.

I love the birthday quiz … me and my cousin turn 40 this year, we were born 7 weeks apart and at Christmas we discovered that his memory vault of our childhood is very empty compared to mine!! He suggested that I could tell him pretty much anything and he would have no idea if it was true or not! So I’m planning a game of two lies and a truth for his birthday, to see how accurate this idea is!!! 🤣

Interestingly, I put cookies in the freezer to keep them fresh!

The bathroom drawing comment reminds me, Many years ago I lived in an apartment building. I drew a small smiley face on an announcement posted in the elevator. The next day someone had given him a top hat. I added a mustache. The next day he had a pipe. And on and on. We played this game until someone took down the bulletin. I still have no idea with whom I was playing this game. But it was so exciting to look forward to the next addition to our drawing while coming back from a long work day and know someone else was playing along.

The Lily and David house tour made me so happy! I especially love the kitchen, garden room, and bath tub room, even though the carpet in there completely bewilders me, I just can’t imagine how that wouldn’t be a recipe for mold risk?

I also really loved Emma Chamberlain’s house tour even though there were criticisms that it was too perfect and cold, which I get, but I still think it was just a lot of the prefect mixes of everything I love.

Hope you have a nice weekend with your dad!

A potential topic I’d love to see discussed on your blog because I love hearing your readers thoughts as well…
People saying they wear makeup or dress a certain way for themselves and what that means.