I came out of my child’s pediatric well check feeling like an incompetent mom earlier this week. It was the first time I’d really felt like I wasn’t on the same page as the pediatrician. It was a little disconcerting. And also completely ruined my Valentine’s Day. My mood completely nose-dived. My spouse took our little for a walk while I tried to get my head back on straight, which is when I realized a couple of things. The biggest of those was that we hadn’t truly had a conversation about what we were doing, […]
Happy New Year!
Welcome to January 2023! I’m hoping I’ll be able to do more this year, both with the blog and with my research. But as the last year, so this year too, as far as needing to balance these goals with being a stay-at-home mom. I was able to read 68 books by the end of 2022, so I am hoping to do more by 4 books this year, averaging about 6 books per month. So far, for mid-January, I have already read 4, so this is definitely achievable. I just hope I can do more […]
Upcoming Book Releases
New to the Bookshop page is a list of upcoming releases – including the Louise Penny! I was going through and realizing that a lot of my favorite authors have books coming out soon. Yes, that does mean a lot of romance novels – but you should know that if you’ve been following my page. On the list on the page I have included their expected release date and have organized them by that date. ALSO: If you’ve been following my Instagram, Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn was my September Book of […]
Coming in November: A World of Curiosities
Looking forward to November? I definitely am. And not just because of Thanksgiving, and fall, and the onset of winter on the heels of fall, but because Louise Penny’s new book will be coming out. I had set a goal for myself this year to read every single one of Louise Penny’s books. I got hooked on the first one and just could not put them down. By June 13th, I had finished my goal. Well, September 1st is tomorrow, but if you similarly have some catching up to do on Armand Gamache’s adventures and […]
When Shall I Have Time Again?: An Update
When I started this year, I had a goal of finally writing more for this blog. I was hoping that most of the new posts would be the book reviews that I have been putting off. Sadly, that has not been the case. The few blog posts I have done have been about motherhood, the general lack of support systems in place for both working and stay-at-home parents (particularly moms), the daily grind of being a “SAHM”, and while these topics are important, they are not what I set out to do with this blog. […]
Experimenting
I’ve been playing around with my new stylus and making calligraphic images. It is definitely harder to write on a screen than it is to write on paper, but this was a fun experiment. And maybe it will lead to more? We’ll see. First – another cuppa.
Giving Yourself Space at Mealtime
I’ve found recently that one of the most toxic phrases in my life is “You can just…” It has floated around for the past year with the follow ups: “… throw what you’re eating in a food processor and feed it to them.” “… find 15 minutes to yourself while they’re sleeping.” “… put them down.” “… listen to audiobooks while you’re taking them out in the stroller.” “… put him in the play-yard and take a shower.” I’ve been struggling to give myself space. Being a stay-at-home mom is significantly more difficult that I […]
No Villages, Just Venting
How many headlines have popped up on my feed since before my child was born proclaiming how tired, angry, frustrated, and overburdened mothers are – especially now that we are in a pandemic? I’m tired of them. These headlines and the stories behind them are all venting with no solutions. I remember back a few years ago when I was talking with one of my younger managers. I had just broken the news that there was going to be a policy change. I had been upset myself when I heard about the change, but after […]
New Year, Same Old Goals
Happy 2022! Or at least… Well, lets hope for turning over a new leaf. I can’t say that 2021 didn’t bring about some interesting changes to my life, or that those weren’t amazing changes. But change is a double-sided coin. My child was born at the beginning of the year, and as prepared for that as I felt, there were definitely moments. Childcare being too expensive and (as I continue to feel) dangerous for the unvaccinated, I found myself trying to pull off the Herculean task of working from home with a baby on my […]
New Adventures, New Directions
Starting in September, we will have relocated to NYC. In addition to continuing to do 2 book posts a month (a goal, I know), I’m also planning on doing at least 1 tea or coffee shop spotlight each month as well. At least one of the two book posts will be part of a new series I am starting using the Tortall books by Tamora Pierce as “sacred text”. If you’ve ever listened to the podcast, Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, this is in that same vein. I’ll readily admit that I completely adore […]