Category: Uncategorized
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Is vacation worth it?
I know, click bait title, but hear me out. We are freshly off our first vacation as a family of four, and let’s just say mom and dad are a little tired. While I do love to vacation and explore new (and even familiar) places, I am admittedly a terrible traveler. Add the two little…
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The Mother I Am
Before having kids, I didn’t really think much about the “type” of mother that I would be. I just thought a mom was a mom was a mom. Of course, I intellectually knew that there were different types of mothers and different ways of mothering, but I sort of lumped all mothers together. Plus, my…
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Summer fun list
Next week marks the official first day of summer! There is always so much anticipation going into summer and how we will spend our time, but the reality for us is that day-to-day life doesn’t really look much different. Enter the summer fun list. Each summer (and some other seasons too), I make a list…
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Surviving a solo-parenting weekend
I’m on the heels of my longest stint of solo parenting—whew! While I love my children dearly, they are a lot of physical work, especially at their current ages (7 months and newly 4). It was a long weekend (no pun intended) of messes and big feelings, but also lots of outside time, quality time…
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Rethinking creativity
What a month it has been. As I write this, my family is riding out the remainder of our Covid quarantine. The virus that we evaded for more than two years finally hit us (the week before my daughter’s fourth birthday i.e. more canceled plans). Before my entire family went into two weeks of isolation,…
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Maternity Leave Reflections
It is hard to believe I am at the end of a six-month maternity leave. Early babyhood is full of dichotomies—it goes by fast, yet slow; the days all feel the same, yet the baby routines have changed more times than I can count; I want the time to last forever, yet I’m ready for…
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How I Find Time to Read
I recently got the question of how I find time to read, so I decided to turn my advice into a post! For context, I read about 25 books per year, I read only hard copy books (no audio books or kindle), and am a mom to two small kids. There are two key elements…
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March Roundup
Spring is here—hooray! I’ve been soaking up the nicer weather and doing a ton of Spring cleaning. Here’s what I was up to in March. What I Read Saving Ruby King by Catherine Adel West This was West’s debut novel and it was an emotional and heartbreaking tale of a young woman determined to save…
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Growth is not linear
My baby intentionally rolls over from his back to his belly with ease. He does it again the next day. Then, he doesn’t do it again for more than a week—often just kicking his legs up and down feverishly and struggling to get onto his side. I walk to the door to find my daughter…
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Surface Pressure
My three-year-old happily dances around the living room as we watch Encanto for the first time. I, too, am bobbing my head to the catchy songs. I’m instantly mesmerized by Luisa’s anthem—the dancing donkeys, the mix of strength and grace in Luisa’s dance moves, her story. Days later I’m still humming the beat under my…
Jessica Rider 