Happy winter! I was realizing that I have spent a lot of time curating books on winter and being outside for my little one since the very beginning – even before we started thinking about sending him to forest school. So why not bring some coziness to the last month or so of winter by reading some of our favorites! (And yes. No list of wintry books is complete without a healthy helping of Jan Brett.)
Reading Goals 2025
It is really important to be kind to yourself when setting goals for the year. Last year, I set what seemed like a reasonable goal considering that I had managed 82 books in 2023. 84 books, or seven books per month, seemed achievable. And certainly, for the first three months of 2024, it was. Until I ran into some health issues that made reading, not difficult, per say, but definitely tricky. Did I still finish books? Yes. I managed 58 books in 2024. But this year’s goal is only 3 books a month, because that […]
Books That Stick With Me (2024)
It has been about ten years since I last wrote a list of books that have stuck with me. That’s a long time for a list to stay the same. People change, and so must the books that stay with them. So here, in no particular order, are the books that are on the list now. Squire (Protector of the Small Quartet #3) by Tamora Pierce This one I come back to again and again and again. There’s general advice for growing up (and being a grown-up) buried in there, and sometimes I need the […]
Let’s Get Hands On!
Getting at the Heart of Historic Sites with Children This has been something that I have been struggling with ever since my child was born. How do I go to historic sites and keep myself surrounded by history when I always have a child in tow? While I certainly expected much of what I have found in the historic property sphere, I also used to work at the aforementioned house in this video – so on some level, perhaps my perspective is a bit skewed by the expectation that more sites ought to have interactive […]
Forest School Gear
Choosing the right gear for forest school – especially when the school is one with no building – is really important. The gear has to withstand all of the elements and keep your child dry and at an appropriate temperature. And this goes for all the gear. Please note: I do not get a kick-back from any of the brands or websites mentioned here. The only exception is the book link – that is an affiliate link, but it also supports local bookshops. Brands There are several brands for children’s outdoor gear that make quality […]
Visiting Zoos with Your Little
It occurred to me after a recent conversation that not everyone is familiar with current standards for zoos and aquariums. A lot of todays zoos are committed to only caring for animals that need it. Many of the animals at the zoo are there because they don’t have another choice. This is a massive change from decades ago when animals were brought to captivity from the wild just because they were “cool”. When choosing a zoo or aquarium to go to, I tend to look up whether the institution is Association of Zoos and Aquariums […]
Forest School
We made the decision last spring to enroll our child in forest school. It has been a little bit of a learning curve, but it has been well worth it. Our kiddo has absolutely bloomed playing outdoors three days a week with children his own age. When we first started, he was only going two days a week, and we had kept up with his gym classes at the same time. But the benefits of forest school trumped the benefits of gym class by miles. Part of this is very much our child’s temperament. We […]
Historic Sites with Littles
I have been on a professional break from my work with museums since my little was about 5 months old. This does not include the freelancing for my spouse or the museum conferences I have been to (mostly on behalf of my spouse). But I have been a museum visitor during that time. And bringing a toddler to museums has become a point of interest for me. Most parents choose to actively avoid the museums where their toddler might cause havoc. If they are going to go to a historic house museum, they will choose […]
Upcoming Book Releases
There are a lot of good books coming out this year, and I always find myself needing to take a minute and write them all down in my planner so that I don’t forget about them. So here, as always, is my list from my Bookshop.org store front so that you can mark them on your calendar too. Now, because I know that I tend to limit myself to romance and mystery (not because I mean to, but because those are the ones I am personally drawn to and will likely finish), I have also […]
2023: My Year in Books
This year I read 82 books (unless something gets finished in the next 48 hours… which I doubt). Of those, 76 were romance novels. On some level, I have been coming to grips with the fact that romance has just become my go-to genre. But I also feel like a lot of the romance novels I’ve read recently have tried to be more diverse. They’ve tried tackling topics that you don’t necessarily expect to find in romance. There’s been discussion of neurodiversity, deafness, loss of mobility, gender inequality, and so much more. My goal this […]