I loved this! Fitz learned to ski this year and it’s truly one of the most rewarding things we’ve done as parents and such a joy to see him loving something we both love. He’s 5.5 and is now obsessed with all games, especially card games. I personally never enjoyed imaginative play which he is really good at so I feel like it’s finally my time to shine with his new found love of games. Also— not sure if these are too young but we have been reading all the captain underpants and dogman series and they are so funny we also lol reading them with him.
Such a joy!!! I need to add captain underpants and dogman to our list!! I am working on games too -- a little tension between a 6-year-old who doesn't want to loose and a 4-year-old who is a little too young for a lot of rules (and an almost 2-year-old who wants to just destroy everything)! but I love games too and I know we will get more into them!
I love your content, and this post in particular made me excited to be a mom someday! Thank you for sharing the bright spots. I’m thinking about investing in the Aligne coat while it’s on sale… would you say it’s oversized? I think I’d be a UK 10, but the smallest size available is a UK 12 and I’m wondering if it would swallow me up! It’s so beautiful. Thanks for your help!
Hi Mackenzie! Thanks for reading - it makes me so happy to hear this! I sized down in the coat. I probably could have taken my normal size, but I think sizing up would be too big.
Thank you for the reply! Your work outfits are really helping me get inspired lately, they’re much more relatable (I’m a school counselor) than a lot I see on Instagram! I appreciate the realness of your content!
Gahh! Love this! Watching my big kid ski for the first time was one of the top moments for sure! Love this so much! Now to get number 2 on board! And reading man, what a cool development. Except today he asked, "what's SMUT" when looking at my kindle cover. managed to not explain that one :) Love ya!!!
I love love loved reading this. Sometimes I find Substack to be really heavy on content about the difficulties of parenthood and motherhood specifically - of which, as you correctly note, there are many! - but it is really nice to read about the positives of raising kids. You generally do a great job of this :) My little one is only six months old but I can’t wait to get to the point where we can read books that actually have a plot together!
I am so glad it resonated, meghan! I agree with you -- on the one hand, it's so important that we can all talk about the hard stuff and it's not hidden, but also, I don't want it to outshine the amazing things! I want to change the narrative of "just you wait" from something that people say in a menacing way to something we say in a joyful way -- "just you wait, it's amazing now and there is so much good to come!!!"
We took my 8 y/o skiing for the first time maybe a month ago and wow! I can't believe how quickly he picked it up. We're so lucky to live 10 min away from a ski hill and we've been back every weekend since. Still counting down the days to spring, but man it feels good to have an outdoor activity to barrel through the last few weeks!
OMG Jen, I feel very strongly about the fact that a key to getting through winter and having fun while doing it is having an outdoor activity you love. It cannot all be about indoor stuff! That's part of why I have been very focused on getting my kiddos on skis. I'm so happy you are getting into it with your fam!
The reading is something we're really into as well! We read Wild Robot and loved it. We also read and loved Runt (Craig Silvery) and Evie and Rhino (Neridah McMullin). We're currently reading Mythos by Stephen Fry and loving it. (We do sanitise it in some parts to make it suitable for a 7yr old).
This was so great to hear -- I just took my 4 year old skiing for the first time last week and wowww was it a lot of work and meltdowns (by all parties). Reading this was the glimpse into a possible future that I needed to double down and commit to taking her more!
Aww, I have a first-grader who loves to read and a 4-year-old (and I’m a literature professor)…we will have to check out The Wild Robot. I’ve heard such good things! My kids are loving The Tales of Desperaux at bedtime. My Father’s Dragon is probably more suited to the 4-year-old, but my first grader still loves it. The first-grader also loves the Ramona books and The Boxcar Children, although parts of Boxcar Children are super old-fashioned. I’m really looking forward to getting them into Half Magic by Edward Eager next.
dare i say i finished this with a tear in my eye!!!! hearing your stories about being a mom is my favorite. and the picture of the reading pile brought me back to being a kid when all 4 of us would do the same with my mom. so special <3
Yay!!! I totally agree that sharing the joyful moments of parenthood is needed!
And skiing with two kids?! Amazing. I cannot ski well myself, but now that we're in Colorado (ha!) I am hoping to take lessons with my sons and learn with them next winter. [Thankfully my husband can ski so we won't be ostracized from the state :)] Which is something I noticed recently that brings me joy in parenting: the joy of LEARNING with your children. Like actually learning how to do something new. I am beginning a music class with my youngest in the fall, and as someone who can kind of read music and kind of play piano, I am SO excited to learn more with him. We attended a trial class yday and it was awesome.
And thank you for the Wild Robot rec! My oldest is 5 (starts K in the fall), and I'm hoping to start reading Kate DiCamillo and Kate Applegate books to him soon-ish. Those are the two authors I have on my mental "pre-HP" chapter book list.
I loved this! Fitz learned to ski this year and it’s truly one of the most rewarding things we’ve done as parents and such a joy to see him loving something we both love. He’s 5.5 and is now obsessed with all games, especially card games. I personally never enjoyed imaginative play which he is really good at so I feel like it’s finally my time to shine with his new found love of games. Also— not sure if these are too young but we have been reading all the captain underpants and dogman series and they are so funny we also lol reading them with him.
Such a joy!!! I need to add captain underpants and dogman to our list!! I am working on games too -- a little tension between a 6-year-old who doesn't want to loose and a 4-year-old who is a little too young for a lot of rules (and an almost 2-year-old who wants to just destroy everything)! but I love games too and I know we will get more into them!
I love your content, and this post in particular made me excited to be a mom someday! Thank you for sharing the bright spots. I’m thinking about investing in the Aligne coat while it’s on sale… would you say it’s oversized? I think I’d be a UK 10, but the smallest size available is a UK 12 and I’m wondering if it would swallow me up! It’s so beautiful. Thanks for your help!
Hi Mackenzie! Thanks for reading - it makes me so happy to hear this! I sized down in the coat. I probably could have taken my normal size, but I think sizing up would be too big.
Thank you for the reply! Your work outfits are really helping me get inspired lately, they’re much more relatable (I’m a school counselor) than a lot I see on Instagram! I appreciate the realness of your content!
Gahh! Love this! Watching my big kid ski for the first time was one of the top moments for sure! Love this so much! Now to get number 2 on board! And reading man, what a cool development. Except today he asked, "what's SMUT" when looking at my kindle cover. managed to not explain that one :) Love ya!!!
crying. not ready for them to be TOO SMART!!!
I love love loved reading this. Sometimes I find Substack to be really heavy on content about the difficulties of parenthood and motherhood specifically - of which, as you correctly note, there are many! - but it is really nice to read about the positives of raising kids. You generally do a great job of this :) My little one is only six months old but I can’t wait to get to the point where we can read books that actually have a plot together!
I am so glad it resonated, meghan! I agree with you -- on the one hand, it's so important that we can all talk about the hard stuff and it's not hidden, but also, I don't want it to outshine the amazing things! I want to change the narrative of "just you wait" from something that people say in a menacing way to something we say in a joyful way -- "just you wait, it's amazing now and there is so much good to come!!!"
Loved this story and it makes me look forward to those slightly older kiddo moments! 🥹
Thank you, Alisha!! You have so much to look forward to!!!
We took my 8 y/o skiing for the first time maybe a month ago and wow! I can't believe how quickly he picked it up. We're so lucky to live 10 min away from a ski hill and we've been back every weekend since. Still counting down the days to spring, but man it feels good to have an outdoor activity to barrel through the last few weeks!
OMG Jen, I feel very strongly about the fact that a key to getting through winter and having fun while doing it is having an outdoor activity you love. It cannot all be about indoor stuff! That's part of why I have been very focused on getting my kiddos on skis. I'm so happy you are getting into it with your fam!
The reading is something we're really into as well! We read Wild Robot and loved it. We also read and loved Runt (Craig Silvery) and Evie and Rhino (Neridah McMullin). We're currently reading Mythos by Stephen Fry and loving it. (We do sanitise it in some parts to make it suitable for a 7yr old).
Adding these to our list! My son is THRILLED that we are developing his very first TBR list!!
This was so great to hear -- I just took my 4 year old skiing for the first time last week and wowww was it a lot of work and meltdowns (by all parties). Reading this was the glimpse into a possible future that I needed to double down and commit to taking her more!
it is so so so much work, that is not to be understated, but, the payoff is tremendous!!!
Aww, I have a first-grader who loves to read and a 4-year-old (and I’m a literature professor)…we will have to check out The Wild Robot. I’ve heard such good things! My kids are loving The Tales of Desperaux at bedtime. My Father’s Dragon is probably more suited to the 4-year-old, but my first grader still loves it. The first-grader also loves the Ramona books and The Boxcar Children, although parts of Boxcar Children are super old-fashioned. I’m really looking forward to getting them into Half Magic by Edward Eager next.
OMG Ramona and Boxcar children, bringing me back! I need to add all of these to our list as well. I sense a big library trip in our future!
dare i say i finished this with a tear in my eye!!!! hearing your stories about being a mom is my favorite. and the picture of the reading pile brought me back to being a kid when all 4 of us would do the same with my mom. so special <3
thank you Meighan <3. I remember reading stories with my mom too, and so I really hope I will create those same special memories for my kids!!
Yay!!! I totally agree that sharing the joyful moments of parenthood is needed!
And skiing with two kids?! Amazing. I cannot ski well myself, but now that we're in Colorado (ha!) I am hoping to take lessons with my sons and learn with them next winter. [Thankfully my husband can ski so we won't be ostracized from the state :)] Which is something I noticed recently that brings me joy in parenting: the joy of LEARNING with your children. Like actually learning how to do something new. I am beginning a music class with my youngest in the fall, and as someone who can kind of read music and kind of play piano, I am SO excited to learn more with him. We attended a trial class yday and it was awesome.
And thank you for the Wild Robot rec! My oldest is 5 (starts K in the fall), and I'm hoping to start reading Kate DiCamillo and Kate Applegate books to him soon-ish. Those are the two authors I have on my mental "pre-HP" chapter book list.