300 Days of Sunshine

One of my reading goals this year is to appreciate a book for what it is and not be such a genre snob, to embrace the value of literature that is entertaining and relatable without discounting it as "fluffy," and to challenge my biases about what constitutes a "good" book.  I have read some really bizarre and experimental literary fiction than isn't actually that enjoyable but leaves me thinking about it for months, and on the flip side of that I find so much joy and connection in really quick and sappy books that don't have layers and layers of metaphor.  There are many versions of a "good" book and it's healthy to step outside our bubbles. One of the things I love about summer reading is that anything goes.  Maybe I want to read something set on a beach, or maybe I want to be taken away to a fantastical place.  I often want to read about family dynamics and relationship struggles, or maybe I want to time travel or view the world from the pers...

Ady had her last day of PreK this week and her Promotion to Kindergarten ceremony!  In the blink of an eye our first baby is a Kindergartener.  (I have worked on preparing myself for this role, including spending an embarrassing amount of time researching whether Kindergartener or Kindergartner is the correct spelling; it turns out both are acceptable, in case you were wondering.) Ady has been in full-time school since she was 3 months old, so advancing from one grade level to the next doesn't seem as monumental as it might for a kiddo leaving the security of their nest to enter a structured school program for the first time, but taking the leap to Kindergarten still seems like a big deal.  Kindergarten is the foundation of so many important cognitive, social, and emotional skills and the age when math, reading, and athletic skills blossom.  This class of kiddos made it through their first year of in-person public school in the midst of a pandemic and many unknowns, ...

Mother's Day is a time of joy and gratitude for some, a day of honoring the strength and kindness that mothers bring to the world, a time of celebrating our relationship with own mothers and our connections to our community of mothers and mother-like figures.  It's also a complicated day of loss, grief, longing, and feelings of inadequacy for many, of silent struggles and relived trauma, a time of reflecting on the expectations of women and mothers and the immense responsibility of nurturing the next generation.  Mother's Day is as dynamic and complicated as the role of a mother itself.  This year I am so thankful to have two healthy, intelligent, kind daughters who make me smile and laugh every day, I appreciate the wisdom and the guidance of my mother and grandmothers whose hard work helped pave the way for the life that I have, and I celebrate the pregnancies in our extended families and the new babies making their way Earth side later this year. Motherhood is a journe...