











A Writer Doing Writer Stuff
Wow, masks are uncomfortable. The first time I put one on, I had to resist the urge to rip it off my face. It was stifling, itchy, and awkward. Is it possible for a nose to sweat?! All of this and yet I only wore it for a brief few minutes, to pick up a curbside, no-touch dinner at Guildhall, one of our fave local restaurants.
It was a lesson in humility. People wear these all day at their jobs? For HOURS?! They do this daily?! I was, and am, in awe.
Continue reading “The New Normal: #MaskingForAFriend”
In the midst of all of this chaos, birds are still singing, flowers are still opening up, and the sun keeps faithfully rising.
Feeling anxious? Me too. These are wild times. Hang in there, I’m here for you. Also, here are 11 things we are doing to keep our sanity:
1. Lunch Doodles with famed children’s book author/illustrator Mo Willems.
2. Cincinnati Zoo’s Home Safari at 2pm CST. Yesterday we learned about porcupines.
3. Highlights Grade Level Workbooks. My kids LOVE these books and activities. Wells is especially excited that his 2nd grade workbook has cursive exercises.
4. Cut, glue, and draw on paper. I tasked the kids with creating a little garden and we taped up their creations on our front door.
5. Chores. The irony is that my kids are loving this time of the day. We change sheets, make beds, arrange stuffed animals, and make sure nothing is on the floor. I am not too strict with this; just encouraging them to take ownership of their bedroom space. Gus loves running around the house wiping off light switches and doorknobs with Clorox wipes.
6. Moments of gratitude. On St. Patrick’s Day, I read the Irish Blessing. Then we shared 3 things we were grateful for.
7. National Geographic Kid Videos: 50 birds, 50 states. The birds rap out interesting content about each of the United States in a 3-min song. We then locate the state on a map.
8. Popcorn party. Sometimes we eat popcorn while watching a movie. Sometimes we look outside to check for birds, squirrels, or dogs. Sometimes we just sit at the table and talk about our favorite flavors of popcorn.
9. Painting Rocks (if you don’t have paint, stickers are a solid substitute)
10. Dance party or a few exercises in reps of 10: 10 jumping jacks, 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups, 10 stretches.
11. Bake. Yes, this will be messy. But letting kids crack eggs, use measuring cups, and press buttons on the oven is a culinary adventure. Follow it up by watching Kids Baking Championship (a great family show) on The Food Network.
Last night we revived an old classic…a movie that harkens back to the very best of an 80s childhood. E.T. Glorious!
Continue reading “A Throwback: The 80s, E.T. & Virtual Rides”
Happy weekend!
City Girl Confessions is my recurring column in The Glencoe Anchor.
It’s the most wonderful time of year…for me. I am positively delighted by Halloween and all of its orange-and-black spooky splendor. I’ve been this way since I was a kid, poring over costume ideas and scouting haunted houses while immersing myself in scary books and movies. A witch’s hat has permanent residence on my shelf.
Continue reading “City Girl Confessions: Knocking Out The Scary Bits”
‘Chicago mom’ is a term synonymous with Amanda Simkin. When I was freelancing for parenting websites, our paths kept crossing in such unique ways that by the time we officially met I thought, “Wait- how have we not been friends for years?!” Good news, we are friends, and I glean inspiration from this mama-of-two everyday- her luminous smile, candor, and entrepreneurial spirit make for a high-five-worthy convo.
Amanda’s writing went viral when she wrote a blog post about the best Christmas lights in the Chicago area. She swiftly crafted her blog into a full-blown business that helps guide parents and families, while celebrating all things Midwest.
So let’s dig in.
Continue reading “Convos With Writers: 11 Questions with Amanda Simkin”
City Girl Confessions is my recurring column in The Glencoe Anchor.
If you want to see my anxiety shoot through the roof, just say the word ‘messy.’ I get a little cringe-y and creeped out when it comes to certain things, and let’s just say that paint, play dough, clay, and slime are the stuff of nightmares for me. Yet, children covet this squishy stuff. They cherish the mess. And there are loads of studies that point to the benefit of this creative play.
It hit me on one of those last, lingering summer days…the kind where minutes pass by like hours and adults are just craving that first day of school. Don’t get me wrong, summer is a glorious, heavenly existence in the Midwest. Ours was filled with camps, trips up north, pool days, popsicles, and explorations of every mini-golf park in a 40-mile radius. But those last days of summer? The ones right before school? Those days are kind of excruciating. The emotions are high, the energy levels higher, and that presents some interesting clashes. Bottom line: new transitions can throw us all for a loop, and everyone in my home was feeling the stress of that.
So I decided to break my own rules and bring on the mess. Long ago, my sister gifted my child a Jackson Pollock art kit from the Museum of Modern Art. It came with acrylic paint, a canvas, drop cloth, and information on ‘action painting.’ Now if you’re not familiar with Pollock’s work, just imagine wildly tossing, flicking, and splattering paint all over a canvas. Yes, this is the very messiest form of art one can embrace.
My children absolutely loved it. Pollock once said that putting a canvas on the floor and walking around all four sides to paint allowed him to feel as though he were literally within the painting. I can confirm that my children seemed to have felt the same way based on the colors that sailed through the air and the shrieks of glee that came from my backyard. It was a mess indeed: on their hands, their clothes, their bodies, the pavement, the grass, the canvas, the drop cloth…paint really does travel when the artist is at work.
Witnessing this mess was oddly joyful for me. Let’s face it- life will always be messy. It will always necessitate a clean up- literal and figurative. Making peace with this notion allowed me to put down the stress baggage that I so willingly carry.
When the paint dried and my backyard sort-of recovered, I walked into Signature of Art in downtown Glencoe. I placed the canvas on the front desk and said, “I need to frame this. It’s the memories of my summer.”
The gentleman working nodded; he understood exactly what I meant. And I’ll confess: one day, I will see this paint splattered canvas hanging somewhere in my home, and I will think of this particularly messy day. A day with paint-splattered hands and backyard shrieks. I will not remember the details of the clean up. But I will remember the magic of the mess.
This month snuck right on in, didn’t it? I awoke to pitch-black skies and a whole lotta rain. Everything seemed different. Somewhere, nature is quietly whispering, “Autumn is coming, you moron.”
Today, Gus begins her very last year of preschool!
Fitz and I will be celebrating our wedding anniversary this month. We’ll be heading back out to wine country (where we were hitched in 2009). Fun fact: the morning of our wedding, we wine tasted at Silver Oak Winery. There were so delighted to hear that we were getting married that day that they handed us a bottle and said, “Congrats and cheers!”
I am really missing having a dog. Is it time for us to adopt one? Maybe. We went through MWBTR when we rescued Theo in 2010.
That’s all for now. Stay dry!