Life Lately

I’ve seen words in a few different places the past week that in effect have said: You don’t have to say something wholly original and new and surprising in your writing. You just need to further the conversation.

Caden has been writing books since he was four. Back then I stapled together a couple sheets of construction paper. He was in a major Batman phase and most pages were a drawing of Batman and words to the effect of, “Batman sees a bad guy. Baman wins!” Simple, preschool-ish sentences.

Today he fills notebooks with words. He recently had to write a fable and filled up 10 straight pages in his college-ruled notebook with his tiny, spiky handwriting about the origin of fire. I’m guessing the other kids in his 2nd-grade class wrote a page or two. At home, he’s progressed from construction paper and now insists on 8-10 pages of plain white printer paper, carefully folded in half and creased with my bone folder, then stapled along the edge with exactly five staples. (A child of mine being particular. Imagine!)

His stories now are heavily influenced by his Wings of Fire obsession. (Heads up: affiliate link!) We own every. single. book. Graphic novel, regular chapter book, prequel, and all 16 books in the series. He fills pages with his own dragon-inspired stories, fitting illustrations of dragons in the margins. He stays up I don’t know how late working on them. He says he’s working on a series of 15 right now, because of course he is.

Batman. Dragons. He’s not creating anything fresh and wholly original. He’s letting his mind go, influenced by some of his favorite things. He’s not thinking too hard about any of it. He’s too busy furthering the conversation.

Something to think about, isn’t it?

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Around the Internet

• This collection of writing on junk food by Bon Apetit is so much fun.

• “‘There is this fundamental question of when, as a country, we’ll see the humanity in every child,” Parrott said. “Leaving children in deep poverty is an unacceptable thing to do because we don’t trust, or want to punish, their parents.’”

• Just a well-written reminder that sugar “highs” are a myth.

• I’m not crying, you are.

• My new favorite thing is this woman who voices over re-stock videos. Be blessed.

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Eating

• This Skillet Chicken With Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions is next-level delicious. I was skeptical when the reviews said it tasted like French Onion Soup but it DOES. Serve with steamed broccoli or green beans and some pretzel rolls.

• Two Mexican bean dishes for you. First: Pinch of Yum’s Crispy Black Bean Tacos. Crispy tacos are genius in their own right. I don’t make the sauce but just buy it from the store so it’s even easier. Second: NYT Cooking’s Bean and Cheese Burritos. I made them for dinner this week, ate leftovers for lunch two other days, and am already wondering when I can make them again.

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Fun Things

• I’ve been on a Madewell spree (Um, possibly always?) and am currently snuggling in this sweatshirt. It’s very soft and at least the colors feel like spring, since apparently it will never be warm here ever again. RIP sunshine.

• I’m re-watching Mad Men, one of my favorite shows of all time, and decided the occasion merited a new mug. Might I recommend to you a purchase based on a beloved fandom? It’s ridiculous the amount of joy it brings me.

• Sometimes the day’s Wordle isn’t enough for me, and that’s when I check out Letter Boxed. Though it can be depressing when I view the previous day’s answers and discover that letters like COSDYAENR around the square could have been turned into SECONDARY, and what I did was something more like NOD and DONE plus three other words. Oh well.

Life Lately

Happy Almost-April!

That exclamation point is much more optimistic than I actually feel. Really it feels blah. Y’know that whole “in like a lion out like a lamb” thing? We entered March with major lamb energy: there was sunshine! And the snow was melting! And we had a whole week of 40 and 50-degree weather! Now we’re exiting March to snow and wind and cold. I feel like I haven’t been properly warm for a solid two weeks. That lion showed up. Rude.

Just us here. Perpetually indoors and eating snacks. Guess it could be worse.

But! Enough about the weather (sorry, Midwestern hazard). If you follow me on Instagram, you know I went back to work as an interior designer this month for the first time since the twins were born. Though “went back” is actually defined as “sitting at my desk in the corner of our bedroom.” Which honestly, is what I was hoping for. I’m working for my previous employer, but remotely. Same but different.

This has been in the works since late January. (When one of my co-workers called me up and was all, “This is really random but would you ever want to come back and work remotely?” And I was like, “Absolutely yes.”). Despite wanting to go back to work in some capacity for a while, once I had a start date on the calendar, it got real. Did I really want to go back to work? To have my time not be my own? (As though my time was my own with three kids around.) To give up my early retirement? Gah.

But? I’m loving it. It feels good to work with floor plans again. To interpret wants and needs into reality. Even to fight with the design program over dimensions and try to chase down elusive countertop materials again. Things long-forgotten, pushed from my brain by motherhood, have started to come back, like NKBA guidelines and building codes.

It’s a vibe shift but honestly what hasn’t been a vibe shift the past two years? Since 2016? Since having two babies and then another one? You get a vibe shift and you get a vibe shift! Vibe shifts all around.

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Thing I’m Doing

Honestly just adjusting to a new schedule. Sometimes life is like that.

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Around the Internet

• “Watching Smith up there on Sunday, burying his behavior in the Williamses’ story, I’m not sure he was entirely back in his body. I’ve never experienced a victory that feels this much like defeat. I suspect he knew this, too. He wondered whether he’d ever be invited back. That feels right. He wasn’t accepting an Oscar so much as trying to turn himself in.”

• On toys and children and Ukraine and what gets left behind.

• “This character exists for women. Sort of. She’s in Mare of Easttown or The Fall. Women who are lost in their ambition or their work, or simply just leave their lives. But they are not heroes. They are complex. It’s all we can talk about: the woman left. The woman left. Critics and essayists write about how the woman left. Is she good? Is she bad? We like it so much better when a woman stays.”

• The mothers are tired.

• I cannot believe they canceled BSC. God forbid little-big girls see themselves—or their near-future selves—on TV. “For fans, the end of The Baby-Sitters Club is disappointing because so few series fill its specific niche: stories about preteen girls that don’t oversexualize or infantilize them.”

• “But consider this: For millennials and younger generations, the last couple of years have carried a reordering of life on every level, from the personal to the global.”

• Okay, those were all vaguely, if not specifically depressing. Is this what I read all day? (Narrator: Yes.) I’ll end on a couple of laughs. 1. Can confirm this is accurate. 2. Where is the lie?

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Eating

• I made this Thai-style basil chicken for the first time in a long time and remembered how delicious it is. Equally great as leftovers.

• I’m sure I’ve mentioned this pasta with prosciutto and snow peas before, but it’s worth bringing up again. It’s spring on a plate. I don’t like mint so I replace it with basil. Yum.

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Fun Things

• These pastel highlighters. They’re also erasable and the erasing part actually works.

• I went on a spring buying spree, mostly at Madewell, and am v. excited about these jeans, this top, and this tee.

• We set up a little charging station in our kitchen with a USB outlet and these magnetic charging cables. They stay out of the way and are super durable. Plus the magnets are kind of fun.

8 Ways Bluey is the Most Relatable Kids Show

Has anyone else been on a Bluey-binging spree? It caught my attention one day when I overheard my daughter watching it on her iPad. I know that watching shows with kids is supposed to win me a parenting gold medal or whatever, but please. You know I’d given her that iPad so I could brush her tangled hair in peace.

But the dialogue on Bluey caught my ears until I was just as wrapped up in its 8-minute antics as she was. It’s the rare kid’s show that feels like it’s as much for us parents as for the kids. There’s just enough parent-related humor sprinkled throughout to keep us invested, snort-laughing and high-fiving in solidarity. We set a family goal to watch through the entire series in order, which we accomplished huddled under cozy blankets during two consecutive subzero weekends in January. I’m not sure who enjoyed it more: the kids or me. (*ahem* It was me.) 

In case you’ve been living under a parenting rock (okay, or you don’t have kids in this age demographic), Bluey is a 6-year old Australian blue heeler. She lives with her parents, Bandit and Chilli, and her 4-year old sister Bingo in Brisbane. They have all sorts of familial, everyday adventures together. 

This is what sets it apart: I’m not sure I’ve seen another show celebrate family life in quite this way. Forget parenting books and influencers; watching Bluey is the thing that makes me want to be a better parent. It’s a show that doesn’t make you think too hard; there aren’t necessarily any grand morals or life lessons to be learned. Instead, each episode showcases the joy of family and packs a lot of laughs and emotions in less than ten minutes. You can just tell when a show is crafted with such care. And that Australian lingo? You know I love it.

Read the rest of my love for Bluey and it’s relatability over at Twin Cities Mom Collective.

Life Lately

I made a Dutch baby for breakfast this weekend. Two out of three kids tried bites and then scrambled for cereal instead. (The remaining child added copious amounts of powdered sugar for it to be deemed edible.) We played board games and ate Thai food and watched TV under soft blankets. We played Wordle. The kids went from laughing together to fighting in 3.2 seconds flat. Yesterday we went to the nearby nature center and rejoiced in the warmth of temperatures over 32-degrees. The sun warmed our cheeks and the kids discarded their jackets and we remembered what it was like to enjoy the outdoors when the wind doesn’t take our breath away.

I listened to The Daily this morning and heard a Ukrainian woman talk about how it was spring there, too, how the sun was out and the birds were singing (Did I mention the birds who sang us to the bus stop this morning?) and she just wanted to enjoy spring and her peaceful life. I felt the parallels in my bones, both of us trying to rejoice in the promise of spring but only one of us consumed by the reality of war in our streets. That we’re different only by virtue of birth, nothing more.

I half-laugh at the warning at the beginning of The Daily episode, “This episode contains strong language.” As if there is any other kind of language for war.

After two years of pandemic, after George Floyd, after January 6th, after Afghanistan, you’d think we’d have learned to live with tragedy. It feels impossible, for the umpteenth time in the past however many years, to hold all of these tensions.

I bought iced coffee this morning on my way to pick up my groceries. I might balk at the increase in prices and yet I can still afford to fill my van with food to feed my family and pay a stupid amount of money for drive-through coffee. Driving home in safety is a given.

And I drove home, the sun shining down bright on another warm, hopeful spring-is-coming sort of day. I try to hold the parallels in my brain. I fling prayers that mostly resemble Anne Lamott’s Help, Thanks, Wow at the sky because I don’t know what else to do. Don’t know how else to hold this tension and bear it.

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Thing I’m Doing

I hate when my “thing” is all “throw money at a problem” and yet that’s really all I have the ability to do. NPR has a roundup of resources that are trustworthy and on the ground in Ukraine should you feel so moved and able to donate.

The other thing I’m doing is holding space for the stories. I can stand in one teeny-tiny, baby iota measure of solidarity with Ukraine by listening to their stories. I have again found The Daily to be a good resource for this.

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Around the Internet

• “If you're tempted to post things like: Russia is doing this because Americans use too many pronouns! At least Putin isn't woke! How will the murder of Ukrainian civilians affect gas prices? Stop. Go outside for a walk. Call a loved one. Cuddle a pet. Do anything real and good and tangible while counting your blessings that you will very likely never know the fear and pain of having your country invaded by a warmongering dictator.”

• “It sounds trite. It’s not enough. We do it anyway.”

• Maybe the best thing I’ve ever read.

• What with attending Iowa State University and marrying a guy from Iowa, I consider myself an honorary Iowan. This article about Casey’s gas station is everything.

• My friend Molly (Who happens to be an Iowan—Molly do you love Casey’s?) is going through her old journals on her blog and it is a DELIGHT. Where my other millennial women at who based their entire afternoons around AIM chats?

• I played The Sims again for the first time in over a decade during 2020 as a little pandemic treat and honestly, this article, about The Sims and food, seems like niche content created just for me.

• I adored this essay on marriage and honestly could have written this paragraph: “When Bill sneezes, no matter how far away he is, it’s like a blast from an air horn aimed at your face…Every sneeze is an emergency. I don’t think I’ve ever not said “Jesus Christ” out loud upon hearing one.” Now every time Tyson sneezes I say, “Jesus!” (which is my standard response) followed by a muttered, “Always an emergency.”

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Eating

• This was the recipe I used for the Dutch baby. Maybe your kids will appreciate it more than mine.

• I’m planning to make patty melts this weekend and already looking forward to it. I use this recipe and it is a meaty, cheesy, umami perfection.

• I had a horrible cold last week which left me with a slight sore throat so I started making vanilla malts with my immersion blender. I used roughly 1 cup milk + 4 generous scoops vanilla ice cream + 4-5 Tbsp. malt powder + a teeny dash of vanilla and it was DELICIOUS. Tyson prefers chocolate so I add 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder for him.

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Fun Things

• The kids received this version of Ticket to Ride for Christmas. We fell in love with it so I gave what Caden calls “the parent version” to Tyson for Valentine’s Day. I know we’re late to the game (Pun not intended. Ha!) but everyone is right: it’s the best. Cue all of the expansion packs in our future.

• I already raved about this fleece-lined jumpsuit on Instagram, but here it is again. I promise you need this in your life.

• We hit up both the Mall of America and Great Wolf Lodge last week to celebrate the kids’ birthdays and it felt like one of the most “normal” things we’ve done in a very long time. Looking for more normal in the very near future.

Life Lately

Even though I thought we were done with the parental-preference phase of things (full of toddler-isms such as “Daddy do!” No! Only Mommy!”), the kids have been back to a big mommy-only phase. They want me to help them with everything from brushing their teeth (me, only me) to playing with them to doing everything involved with their food. It’s not quite so rigid as maybe when they were two. Tyson can put them to bed, for example, and it’s not (usually) the end of the world. They no longer turn into screaming, sobbing puddles on the floor due to the presence of one parent instead of another. Still: the kids want mommy and mommy only. I’m sure this is somehow related to the past two years of *gestures* everything, but heck if I can figure it out.
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It was a cold month here in Minnesota. That sentence might sound redundant, so maybe what I should say is that it was a particularly cold month. We had more subzero January days than not, more days where the windchill had a negative sign in front of it than a positive one. I rather like the cozy months, but even I will admit it can get wearing after a while, when the kids can’t even be outside for recess. Instead of dwelling on the cold, I’ll list the things that saved our sanity this month, which include Wordle, Bluey, hot chocolate, wearing sweatsuits on repeat, family games, and making all the soups, stews and pastas. (Seriously, whoever decided that January was a great month to market You Should Begin All the Diets did not live in Minnesota.)
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I learned, again, that if we just sit down and talk to the kids, they’re…really good. We had a Family Meeting over the weekend to remind them of our morning rules: 1. No coming out of your room until 6:30 and 2. Play quietly until Mommy and Daddy are out of bed. Being blessed with Morning Kids™ who are frequently awake before 6:00, we’d fallen into a cycle where Tyson and I were woken up by what sounded like an entire Marvel movie breaking out in the hallway or kids barging in with a barrage of questions in our still-dark room. Though the final straw was Nolan’s Saturday morning 4:45 call for help because he “couldn’t reach” his water bottle and he “didn’t want to get up,” after which neither Tyson nor I fell back asleep. But after a single family meeting Saturday night to discuss, we’ve had two perfect back-to-back mornings (fingers crossed, throws salt over shoulder, steps over all sidewalk cracks, makes sign of the cross) which leaves me wondering why we didn’t just talk to them sooner.
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If there are any other words to sum up the month for parents, it seems to be these lyrics from Encanto: “...see if she can handle every family burden/Watch as she buckles and bends but never breaks/No mistakes just/Pressure like a grip, grip, grip and it won’t let go, woah/Pressure like a tick, tick, tick ‘til it’s ready to blow/…Who I am if I don’t have what it takes?/No mistakes/Just pressure.” And not just because those lyrics are living on repeat in all of our brains right now. (Love you, LMM, but could you make some songs that just aren’t quite as catchy?) Still, we made it through January. I think I spy hope ahead, in the form of warmer temperatures, the end of distance learning (for those who were back in that hellscape), and quieter mornings.

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Thing I’m Doing

Inspired by last Tuesday’s outside of politics conversation on Pantsuit Politics, I thought I’d share how I’m involved at the kid's’ school. Every Thursday afternoon, I volunteer in the workroom for about 2-4 hours where I run copies, put together projects (soooo many Kindergarten projects), and other classroom organization-type things for whoever needs it. I don’t know why I don’t talk about it much—I did this when Caden and Brooklyn started Kindergarten (though in-school volunteers were on pause for most of the pandemic)—but it’s a pretty big anchor in my week. I’ve also helped in the cafeteria and am signed up to staff the book fair in a few weeks. It’s a small thing for me to do yet the gratitude from the staff is enormous.

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Around the Internet

• I am officially deceased after reading A Note of Reassurance From Your School District Regarding Our Updated Omicron Policies

• House shoes now and forever. (Pssst….my forever favorites are Mahabis.)

• “It’s a loop I and other parents have been stuck in for almost two years, willing ourselves to keep it together just a little bit longer, thinking this time will be the last time, that is, until the next time.”

• On schedules, routines, and TikTok.

• Speaking of TikTok, the Gardiner Brothers have a GIFT.

• “Pikler argued that babies, like seeds growing into plants, did not need any teaching to develop as nature intended; they would learn to walk, speak, sleep, self-soothe, and interact perfectly, if only we would get out of their way.”

• “I see the end of these cozy cuddles on the couch and the days when I am the social center for my kids. I hear the refrain of all those who have gone before me—those who remind me to enjoy these days because they go so fast, and here’s the thing: I’m trying to.”

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Eating

With those subzero temps, I’ve been making alllllllllll the comfort foods:

• I’ve made this soup three times in the past two months. I recommend adding an extra bell pepper and cooking the tortellini separately and adding it as needed so it doesn’t get mushy.

• These red curried lentils but I used an entire can of full-fat (urgh, please don’t use the “light” stuff) coconut milk. I kept an eye on it as it simmered and added more coconut milk as needed to keep it more soup-y.

• I’ve tried a few Swedish meatball recipes before but this one is my favorite. It comes together pretty fast when you buy the frozen Swedish meatballs from Target. Like IKEA…but better.

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Fun Things

• Speaking of cozy, my birthday gift to myself was a new sweatsuit. Enter this sweatshirt and these sweatpants.

• After twelve too many splashes and grease stains, this apron is now saving my clothes.

• These bins now live in my pantry to organize snacks and my life feels (almost) complete.

• Starting a new hashtag on Instagram. Would love to see you join in!