Mixed Media: July 2019
Summer is lazily flying by. How that happens, I’m not sure. But, if it is getting away from you, here are some ways to continue savoring the leisure and relaxation.
Read MoreSummer is lazily flying by. How that happens, I’m not sure. But, if it is getting away from you, here are some ways to continue savoring the leisure and relaxation.
Read MoreHere is our round up of good reads, watches, and listens for the month of February.
Read Morebriefly mentioned this book in my Advent post last year but I wanted to revisit it as Advent approaches. When my oldest kids were very young, I found it difficult to navigate this time of year. I had grown up with some pretty solid family traditions and carried expectations of the same into married life, but I found my husband and I rather fumbled through the first couple of Advents, unsure of what would be our own family traditions. And when the children were so young as to seem hardly aware and their memories weren’t very long term, lots of times it felt like we were just going through motions. Gradually, however, it all began to stick. They remembered one year what we had done in the last. The traditions were setting! Around that time, I purchased this sweet little book, Advent Storybook. I wanted something like an advent calendar, but which didn’t involve siblings fighting over a tiny piece of chocolate (a predominant memory of my childhood Advents). I wanted something that would help lead the kids’ anticipation for presents into a more fruitful season of patience and waiting.
Read MoreThe round-up of what caught our eyes (or ears) this month:
Read MoreKiera Knightly was in the news recently over her comments about Disney princesses. Basically, there are some stories she’ll allow in the house, and some that she won’t. Some send a message she wants her daughter to hear, and others don’t.
I’m not going to comment on Kiera Knightly’s remarks right now. They are obviously controversial, otherwise they wouldn’t be making headlines. But the topic brought together some thoughts I’ve had over the past few weeks, and I’m wondering if I can tease out some sort of theme.
Read MoreI was a middle child. Growing up, there was always a steady stream of books available for me to read. My parents must have acquired books for my older siblings as they reached new developmental stages, so by the time I was old enough to read, there was already a vast library to choose from. When I was finished with one book, I would sit in front of the towering shelves and look at the spines, all neatly arranged, trying to decide which to start on next. The question never was whether I would start another book. It was always, simply, which? I can remember fingering certain volumes, intrigued by their covers, just waiting for the time when their wonders would be accessible to me.
Recently, it dawned on me that it is one of my responsibilities, as a parent, to provide the opportunity for such wishful waiting to my own children. I want them to grow up with that same sense of eager anticipation.
Read MoreA few months back, Maria sent me a book for my daughter. It wasn't my daughter's birthday or anything. Maria simply wrote something along the lines of: "Esther can't get enough of this book right now. I thought Edith might like it too!"
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