May 31, 2023
WUW- May 2023
May 30, 2023
April and May Books 2023
It's been a slow couple of months for reading. Part of this is a library problem. Part of this is a book problem. I've made the dumb mistake of attempting to read a bunch of nonfiction, which never works out well. I do best with fiction on the Kindle app.
I'll just start with the kids' books. I'm teaching Wells the value of a serialized story, so we're reading The Magic Treehouse. I am counting these because I've never read them before. He likes them. He really just wanted to get to the Ninja book so I told him we had to start at the beginning. We're on #6 right now.
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
I was given this to read last week. It's a novel study I'm going to be doing this coming school year. I've never read it ...actually I'd never heard of it! The study is already written by the previous teachers, which is GREAT, so I just needed to read the book.
It's really good. Like, truly a good book. The chapters are short. The characters are relatable. It's about 6th graders but could be suitable for any reader, I think. I'll be doing it with 3rd grade. I, personally, approve this book for your kiddos if you have a middle-grade reader. The summary is that a girl has trouble reading and writing and fakes her way through school. It kind of picks up in the middle of the story without a ton of background and you learn as you go. Seriously a good book. It reminded me of Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You, which I read a few times when I was in school.
Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
The one fiction book I read and loved. On the kindle, from the library. I read it in two days because it was so good! You have to suspend disbelief a bit but I really enjoyed the story. It pulled you into the world and I could picture it all. Sure, it was a rom-com of sorts but it wasn't tropey and dumb like most I come across and never finish. I absolutely recommend this one.
The Total Classroom Management Makeover by Michael Linsin
He's the best for a refresher when it comes to teaching. He completely transformed the way I did things several years ago so I'm going back to his methods. I have gotten his Saturday email/article in my inbox for the last 6 or 7 years. I still read it every week, even if I'm not teaching. I'm also reading Dream Class right now. I recommended his other books way back when.
Did not finish:
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
This was so dumb. Carrie seems to be a spoiled and petulant 7 year old. She is awful. Her dad is slightly more interesting? I don't know. I quit around 20%. There was no one to root for in this story when the main character/title character/picture on the cover is insufferable.
TJR tries to create these fictional worlds that are mirrored to real-life. She could learn a thing or two from Annabel with Nora Goes Off Script; that story is set in a fictional world with Hollywood A-listers and movies that the author completely made up. But it's not awkward or weird. It all fits nicely.
Obviously it won a Goodreads award last year:
Anyway, I've been currently struggling through two different fiction hardcovers, I'm reading that classroom management book, I'm still reading M is for Mama, stalled out on Mere Christianity (we won't even talk about how far behind I am on the Bible reading plan I started)...I feel like I have a few more on my nightstand too, so things are not looking great almost mid-way through 2023.
What are you reading right now?
May 26, 2023
Friday Things 5/26
+I made the mistake of joining a minimalist Facebook group at like 10pm on Friday night. Guess what I spent the next two hours doing? Cleaning out dresser drawers. I actually made it through my drawers, a big closet in our living room where Everything Goes (crafts, wrapping paper, "important" papers, boxes that need to be saved, and a drone), and the inside of the bench by the entryway to the house.
+I ordered two dresses from Old Navy last week. I've been getting no less than 4 emails each day from Old Navy ever since, so that seems like a giant mistake.
I kept this one. The color is called Flower Trail. It has pockets.
I returned this one. The midi dress was 3 times as heavy. Like, they look the same but they were not the same material at all. I got it in navy, which is there on the site somewhere. But I don't know that it was nearly as flattering as the reviews make it out to be. It was like a heavy maxi dress.
+I meant to do a post about food this week. I seriously meant to write 2-3 blog posts, plus a substack post and then...I just decided not to? We had a rough week. Then, we all (all) slept about 10 hours last night and things seem better this morning.
+Books coming next week! I have read very little for April and May so I'm combining them.
+ If you need a cocktail for the weekend, I suggest ranch water.
+
Linking up for Friday Favorites!
May 19, 2023
Friday Things 5/19
This has felt like a long week? I don't know. They're all kind of long weeks since we're in toddler-land. I have discovered that while it's 10000% easier just to stay home all the time when you have a little baby, it's 10000% easier to be out of the house with a 1+ year old because it keeps them busy. Chasing her around the house and saying no all the time gets old for everyone.
+I'm trying to get back into hiking? I don't know. On days where it's just the right temperature, it works out.
ICYMI:
May 17, 2023
Simple and Practical Teacher Gift
May 15, 2023
Moms' "night" "out"
Lots of quotations up there.
With yesterday being Mother's Day, this all kind of popped into my head.
Also, I watched a movie the other night called Moms' Night Out. It wasn't a bad movie. It's from 2014 so prepare yourself for some fashion if you check it out (think: bubble necklaces, chambray, and aztec print).
It was also one of those Pureflix productions so...prepare yourself for that too.
The main character mom was completely and totally overwhelmed. She was hiding in a closet to "hide" from the house because it was a mess after the kids were in bed. She confessed to her often-away husband that she had everything she ever wanted and she couldn't understand why she was so unhappy. From what I gathered on her character, she was also a fixer, a people-pleaser, and never said no to someone who wanted or needed a favor.
By the end of the movie, she was receiving advice from a jailbird tattoo artist (played by Trace Adkins) who told her that God made her the mother of her children because she was the best mother for them; it wasn't a mistake because God didn't make mistakes, no matter how little faith she had in herself.
Then, she awoke the next morning (after a night of Adventures in Babysitting-like hijinks) to a quiet and clean house at sunrise with a cup of coffee and a computer ready for her to write her next blog post on motherhood. (Where were the kids?)
This was also a good reminder that Very Nice houses in 2014 weren't stark white with only mid-century modern furniture. The family definitely lived in a Very Nice house.
But that doesn't mean that this mom was doing okay.
In fact, I really didn't like the message of the movie. This message is exactly why I never sought out Christian counseling when I felt the effects of PPD/PPA. I didn't want to be told to pray it away. I didn't want to be told to have faith. I wanted someone to validate my feelings and help me come up with a solution, and I didn't know if I'd find that by going the Christian counseling route.
All I kept thinking while watching was This mom needs a counselor! This mom needs a solution! She doesn't need a night out! She probably needs an SSRI! It was actually really uncomfortable to watch at parts because I could feel exactly what she was probably feeling.
But the solution to this problem of absolute SAHM overwhelm was to give her a fancy night out with her two friends, leaving all the children in the not-quite-so-capable hands of the husbands.
I really wanted to throw some of these opinions out there but, alas, I was watching it at a friend's house for, ironically, a moms' night out. Meaning games, food, etc, plus this movie playing in the background.
While I don't mind leaving our kids with Scott, I still made dinner for everyone before I left because it seemed like the considerate thing to do. It's not that he can't handle taking care of the kids; his time is just better spent on things only he can do, like re-siding the outside of the house or installing the new windows.
My point: this classic narrative of moms just needing a night out isn't super helpful. We need to create a lifestyle where moms feel more supported and not like they have to cling to sanity while eating chocolate inside a closet in the dark.
Anyway, Happy Mother's Day! :)
May 12, 2023
Friday Things, 5/12
This week has gotten away from me with a coughing, croupy baby (no fever) and now a coughing preschooler*. It has rained most days so I'm glad I got in my one singular walk on Monday.
Good thing we're going to the zoo today in the rain for a field trip. It will take all I have not to just drive to Target and/or Mardel's since I'm going that far anyway, but I feel like that may be a disaster with two small children.
*No fever and he looks okay so an outdoor field trip looks like it has to happen. This has been on the schedule for 2 months at this point.