Parenting Tip #1: Check and Double Check the Crib Sheets.

I wanted to start things off right here with letting you in on the most embarrassing parenting story that’s happened to me lately… I’m not sure why this is jumping out to me as what should begin my writing career with, but here we are. My heart is set and it won’t be changed.

Let me set the scene for you. It was a Monday night (much like tonight) in the not too distant past. We had just gotten the boys down to bed, and were beginning the arduous task of cleaning the house from top to bottom. My husband is always on kitchen duty, and I am on laundry and general tidying duty. So I was sitting on the couch surrounded by my boys’ tiny folded things, listening to my audiobook when my husband called to me laughing from the other room. “Uh, honey.” “Mmhmm?” I replied, not knowing that soon my life would be irrevocably changed.

But when he came in he was holding something very small, very lacy and very…leopard print. A thong. It was my thong. Now…I am known to wear the occasional thong every now and then if my chosen outfit requires it. I am a strong proponent of the anti-VPL community. But I’m not normally a lacy leopard thong kind of gal. More sensible comfort thong with a little lace because I like pretty things. But I won’t deny it. This leopard print thong was mine. Well, I thought, nay! I hoped! to myself that maybe I dropped it from the laundry when I was carrying the basket to the couch. But those hopes were dashed when he said these next awful words, “Look what I found in Lukey’s lunchbox.” And that’s when it all became clear, friends… On Mondays I send in freshly washed crib sheets and blankets for each of the boys. My thong was found inside one of the pesky corners of Luke (our youngest)’s crib sheet and one of his kind teachers then returned it to us in Luke’s lunchbox.

It’s been a few weeks, so the memory burns a little less, but I also wonder if I am now known at the boys’ daycare as The Thong Mom. Maybe it would have been kinder for the teacher to just throw it away and I would be none the wiser? What do you think? In the end – let my mistake be a lesson to you – always check and double check the crib sheets before sending them in to daycare. Hope you guys had a great Monday! No thongs found in any lunchboxes tonight, so I’m doing just fine.

(The boys’ matching monogrammed school bags are from LL Bean. They’re the medium boat and tote and they work wonderfully for daycare trips, and when the boys turn into school age boys, they’re perfect for library book bags.)

Hello There!

Welcome to a tiny corner of the internet! Things are just getting up and running around here, but you can expect to see posts on food, books, motherhood, marriage, home, librarian-life and the like. Most of you have probably found yourselves here from my Instagram account (which if not, here’s the link!) and if you’re familiar with what I post there – you know what to expect here. And if not – go see! But the problem I’ve been finding is that it can be really hard to sum up an idea in a single instagram post or story.

I’ve also been pondering the idea of routine lately, especially as it’s the beginning of a new year. What do I choose to include in my everyday routine? And what is just purposeless filler for the empty spaces that pop up? I want this spot to become an intentional part of my routine. This check in to share how we’ve been seeking joy lately, if we’ve been slowing down, or if we need to. To share what we’ve been cooking, making, baking, celebrating, doing, and perhaps most importantly, a bit of memory-keeping for years down the line when I know I’ll be happy to have everything here in a neat little package. And just maybe a few of those things might inspire you too. Let’s sift through all the noise of the world, and keep the good stuff we’ve found.

All those things currently live in a vault in my mind, and a little (seriously, such a tiny) glimpse into our days can be seen on Instagram, but with a website, everything can all be laid out here in a scroll-able, readable, categorized date-stamped format which is such a joy to a librarian such as myself. To sum it up: expect to see this space as a reference, an idea space, a daydream, a mindful reflection, a supportive community, and a guide for each season of life. I think it could become so good, you guys. And I’m so dang glad you’re here to see it. I hope you stay a while to see what it becomes.