Brain Dump

Do you remember, back in the early days of the internet, before Facebook and Instagram? At the time of Live Journal and blogging? People wrote their thoughts freely. There was no censoring. There was just the freedom of having and sharing personal opinions. And people were respectful of each other. We shared more of what we truly thought. No one was trying to present a perfect image of their lives on Instagram, and there was no such thing as an influencer. We were all mostly normal, ordinary people, still mostly thinking for ourselves. 

I miss those days.

G. K. Chesterton said that “Fairy tales are more than true – not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.” I believe this statement especially as it pertains to my children. I want them to believe that dragons can be beaten. But right now I am wrestling with what happens when the books we read don't have happy endings? What if the dragons win? What then?

I've been reading a bunch of dystopian novels lately. Some I've read before. Some I am reading for the first time. In 1984, Orwell's characters engage in censorship. The main character's job is to erase and rewrite history so that it reflects what the government tells them it should reflect. The recent banning of President Trump, and others, from social media feels like something right out of 1984. Not only was he banned, his tweets and comments were erased. Gone. Poof. Furthermore, the main character holds on to his inner personal thoughts and beliefs throughout the book before finally becoming a man broken by the government. (Relevant world news: The Chancellor of Germany spoke out against this censorship, Poland is in the process of enacting fines against censorship, and Uganda blocked Facebook and Twitter ahead of it's political election sighting interference by censorship. Twitter did not like this saying it was an infringement to free speech. Pot meet kettle).

In the book Brave New World, Huxley's characters are lulled into submission with drugs. They do their work and live their lives without questioning because they will be rewarded at the end of the day with pills and pleasure. They use these rewards to escape into their inner worlds where they can feel nothing. Life is *so good* that they regularly choose to feel nothing. Our current escapism into the internet, and the dopamine hits we get from the like feels oddly reminiscent of this. Not to mention that all across the country states are changing laws about the legality of drugs.

In Atlas Shrugged, Rand describes a world where people believe they shouldn't have to work to be paid. They thought they deserved to run organizations and have jobs that other people built, even if they have no qualifications to do so. Their belief was that those who are carrying the risks and load of companies and ideas didn't deserve what they had. And then the government took it a step further and passed regulations to force successful companies to sell their hard-earned businesses to others who had done nothing. All in the name of equality. It kind of reminds me of the story of the Little Red Hen, but with a twisted ending that would require the Hen being forced to feed everyone, even though everyone else refused to help her with the work... It also reminds me of some of the ideas floating around about how government should work. People clamoring for democratic socialism and pointing to Scandinavian countries as a model, even though these Scandinavian countries are actually free market economies that more closely align with capitalism than socialism.

Shifting gears a little... another thing that has been bugging me is that I am in need of a phone upgrade (I still have an iPhone 5 because we keep things as long as possible in our family). Anyways, I have been thinking about my upgrade and I know what I want. However I am bummed by the recent censorship by companies like Apple, Google and Amazon. These Big Tech companies (who I love and use regularly) effectively worked to block a new company –Parler– removing this entire platform from the internet by deleting it from App stores and pulling its servers.

I am not an expert in this area, but from where I sit it looks like a small start up went out and built a competing platform to FB and Twitter and Big Tech pulled it, stating that they were not doing a good enough job of policing personal accounts. Nevermind that all sorts of hate and ideology is still being spewed on FB, Twitter and the like, just not from accounts that the technocrats have deemed unfit.

This whole event really bothered me, so out of curiosity I searched for phones that were not owned by these companies. After all, the saying goes, if you don't like a company you can vote with your money. Take your business elsewhere. But what if there is nowhere else to go take your money? What then? I know, I could just go back to the Nokia brick phones or something of that like and cut technology out completely, but I have gotten too used to this convenience, and I love that my phone has a good camera and the connectivity to the internet. Also, I think voices need to be heard, not just self censored and removed because people are frustrated by the system. So not only is free speech being attacked, our free market is also being eroded... Just some things I've been mulling over.

Finally, I was watching Hulu last night. To be honest I no longer watch network television at all, mostly to avoid commercials. We still have Netflix, but due to most of the content on Netflix, I have cut back my viewing and have gone back to mostly reading unless Daniel and I have a show we are binge watching together. 

Back to Hulu... we currently have a subscription with our Verizon account. But this service include commercials. Last night as I was watching on Hulu, a commercial for Match.com came on. The concept of the commercial was that Satan was matched with the perfect person, a girl named 2020. I can't believe this is where we are at with commercials. I know they were trying to be funny, but it was so disturbing. 

During the month of December I had a similar experience. I was listening to Spotify with my kids. We were listening to a playlist of Christian Christmas carols that went along with a Christmas-themed study we were doing. While listening in the car with my kids, Spotify (which also has commercials) played a propaganda advertisement about how abortion was good and people who had abortions should be applauded. I immediately hit mute. I have not listened to Spotify since. That is my prerogative. I am ready to cancel Hulu. I am bothered by these world views that are bombarding me and my children. I don't want censorship, but I also don't want this kind of world view shoved down my throat, or my children's throats. It used to be that you could trust that the airwaves would be "safe" for your kids before 9pm. That is no longer true. 

Anyways, these are just some of the things I've been contemplating lately. They are things happening in the world right now that affect me directly. I hope that in ten years things have not become even worse, but frankly I don't have a lot of trust in our culture, government or media right now. I do, however, have trust in God. So in my little corner of the world, I am trusting God. I am putting my faith in him. I am loving my family. I am trying to shine my light as best I can in a world that is becoming increasingly dark.

Homeschool

"I just like to know," said Pooh humbly.

Have you ever had a quote that really resonated with you? This line from "Winnie the Pooh" by A.A. Milne has always stuck with me because it summarizes how I approach life. For me, the knowing involves a constant state of learning. And even in the busier phases of my life, I find myself itching to learn more about everything. So I devour more books than most adults (mostly of the non-fiction variety), I scour the internet, I read blogs and listen to podcasts, and I constantly stretch myself to learn all manner of subjects. It's what I do. It's what I've always done.

I hadn't planned on homeschooling. One of the reasons we moved to where we live is the excellent school system. But, here we are, on the brink of homeschool.

Last year I experimented with getting my kids outside daily and I also happened to read a book called "Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv. This book got my wheels turning. Why are kids expected to start spending so much time inside at an early age? Why were we in such a hurry to speed childhood along? Why this diversion from play-based learning and more of an emphasis on medicating kids that have trouble sitting still in school? I couldn't shake the thoughts.

Then all of a sudden we were in the middle of kindergarten readiness activities (it creeps up on you!). These activities included attending a parent-teacher conference with Jack's preschool teacher, going to a kindergarten readiness meeting, and taking a tour of the school we are zoned for. While we checked these items off our list of things to do to prepare for kindergarten, I happened to read the book "The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education" by Diane Ravitch.

If you don't want to question how school is being done in America, don't read this book. But I did read it, and my doubts about public school, especially in regards to kindergarten, grew.

I was torn because we have excellent schools without having to pay for private, but I have strong feelings about the requirement of a seven-hour school day for kindergarten. Can Jack attend school for that long each day? Sure, he's capable. But what would he actually gain from that amount of time in a classroom? When I look at my child and his capabilities and the things he loves, I don't know that a classroom setting with 20+ kids and one teacher is the right fit.

Am I worried about his socialization? Nope. Jack does not meet a stranger and we have constant exposure to other families and kids that I think will provide enough so-called socialization.

Do I want to homeschool for religious reasons? Sure, we can instill our family values and beliefs in our children through homeschool, but we would do that regardless of where they attended school.

What if he gets behind? Based on the things Jack has already learned from us (with minimal effort), I am confident that formal education at home will allow him to blossom further with the added benefit of us being able to tailor his studies to topics he loves.

A third book that I recently finished was "Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That's Transforming Education" by Ken Robinson. Robinson is an internationally recognized leader in the development of innovation and human resources who shared a TED talk about education in 2006. He inspired so many people, he has gone on to share his knowledge and inspire even more through books he has written. 

I have not watched his TED talk, but his book Creative Schools is chock full of observations and recommendations from professionals that emphasize rethinking how education is currently done. I could have highlighted the entire book! The book is engaging and informative and gave me a lot to think about in regards to how homeschooling will look for our family (in light of the ways it needs to change in the public school sector). Here are a few of the passages that especially resonated with me:

When standardized tests are the primary factor in accountability, the temptation is to use tests to define curriculum and focus instruction.

In my view, a balanced curriculum should give equal status and resources to the following: the arts, humanities, language arts, mathematics, physical education, and science. Each addresses major areas of intelligence, cultural knowledge, and personal development.

"Failure is an important part of the process... This critical part of the learning experience– the learning that comes from failure– is far too often programmed out of the academic curriculum." – Larry Rosenstock, High Tech High

"The world economy no longer pays for what you know, Google knows everything. The world economy pays you for what you can do with what you know." – Andreas Schleicher, Secretary General, OECO

In national and global surveys, employers don't complain about applicants lacking specific knowledge or technical skills, which are easy to test and express in a letter grade; they want employees who can analyze critically, collaborate, communicate, solve problems, and think critically." – Joe Bower, science/language teacher in Alberta, Canada

...in most respects, individuals are most like themselves with their own temperatures, interests, talents and dispositions. You can help your children by treating them as individuals and not by assuming that they should follow the same paths or be judged by the same criteria at school.

...the greatest argument for homeschooling: that it allows you to push your children where your child needs pushing... while also letting you give your child enormous room for improvisation and discovery.

Effective education is always a balance between rigor and freedom, tradition and innovation, the individual and the group, theory and practice, the inner and the outer world.

It has always been my belief that no matter where our kids attended school, we would supplement their education at home. I still believe this, but for the time being, supplementing will actually be teaching. I don't believe it is possible to teach everything there is to know, but I can teach them how to learn and equip them with the desire to learn. With that ability and desire, the world will be at their fingertips.

Here are a few podcast series about homeschooling that have really resonated with me and shaped how I think our homeschool will work:
The Homeschool Sisters
Wild and Free Children
Brave Writer

What I'm Reading in 2016 (#12)

A couple of things I am learning about myself: I really like non-fiction. Sometimes I feel like I should read more fiction because everyone else is doing it. But really, I am happy learning about other people's real experiences (both current and past). Also, a few years ago I would have been bummed about the fact that my amount of reading has dropped off so much in recent years. But again, I think I'm ok with that. Sure, I wish I was reading more, but during this season of my life, there are nights I just want to zone out watching Netflix.

Anyways, back to the actual reading. I just finished up A Series of Catastrophes and Miracles by Mary Elizabeth Williams. The book is about Mary Elizabeth's personal fight against Stage 4 melanoma and it is filled with humor and sadness.

I do not have any personal experience with cancer, nor has anyone close to be experienced this dreadful disease, but I think Mary Elizabeth's writing is relatable because hardship touches us all. Everyone will experience difficult things in one form or another at some point in their lifetime. I have come to believe that these hard things are what make us human and give us empathy to understand one another.

In one of her descriptions, Mary Elizabeth describes sitting with her husband and feeling the heaviness of what was happening. "We don't talk a lot, we just share the quiet space of defeat."

This reminded me so much of our response the day we learned of my miscarriage. Daniel and I had a post-doctor lunch date planned. It was supposed to be celebratory. Instead we ate our meal in silence and then walked down to the river and sat in quiet defeat. We didn't know what the future held, but we had that moment. Just us. Facing the unknown together.

Another passage that spoke to me:
But in addition to keeping the faith, you know what else you do when you have Stage 4 cancer? You have to do your laundry. You have to buy groceries. You have to do your job. You have to make your kids brush their teeth. You have to clean up and do it all over again the next day that you are just trying to stay around for. The world doesn't grind to a haul because your life might.

When Daniel was laid off from his job, we felt this type of a burden. We had to keep living life, even though no one else had this big heavy thing hanging over them. Our lives came to a halt, while our friends and co-workers lives kept spinning. No it wasn't cancer but we felt a version of these same feelings.

Sometimes when I consider what people can live with and keep going, it shocks me. It's like life after I had a baby and realized that the world was full of exhausted women with lacerated perinea and clogged milk ducts who were managing to successfully keep small, helpless human beings alive. Now I know it is also full of people who go to the doctor – have shattering experiences and then show up with their kids at parties...

Before I experienced hardship, I too had no knowledge that people were walking around dealing with hard things. Things like parents divorcing, sickness in the family, a lump in my breast at age 22 (which was thankfully nothing), blood clots that sent me to the hospital for a week, a spouse losing their job and being unemployed for a year, moving for work, having kids, having a miscarriage, the difficulties of marriage, the difficulties of parenting. Until you walk through those experiences you have no idea that there are others like you. Maybe their difficulties are not always obvious, but you discover that you are not alone in this thing called life.

That is what I took away from Mary Elizabeth's book. She was lucky that she circumstances aligned that cured her of her cancer. That is not always the case. I think her book shows the power of finding people who are on similar journeys. Our journeys are all different, but the ability to support and encourage one another is one of the amazing things about being human.

I think that when people watch someone going through something like this and say. "I don't know how they do it," they don't understand that the answer is "Because they didn't have a choice."

Things I Read in August (#10-11)

I haven't been reading as much as I would like this year. I have several books downloaded on my Kindle, but reading on an eletronic device continues to lack the appeal of a tangible book.

Before we left for our vacation, I managed to run by the library and pick up two books from my "to read" list. The first was When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. The second was Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. Very different books, but both are worth reading. I will share my thoughts on Richard Louv's book tomorrow in my Outside 365 post.

I first heard of Paul Kalanithi's story on the blog A Cup of Jo. Paul was married to Jo's twin sister and the unexpected news of his brain tumor was gut wrenching. It was the beginning of 2014 and Paul had written an essay that had been published in The New York Times of what it was like to be a neurosurgeon diagnosed with a brain tumor. His essay was raw and personal. He was close to my age and the whole scenario had me weeping at my computer. For him. For his wife.

A little over a year later, Paul died. It was shocking and sad. He left behind his wife, child, parents, siblings.

A year after Paul's death his memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, was published. In the pages of this book, Paul outlines his journey to neurosurgery, his search for meaning, and his experience facing death on a very personal level – with the irony of dying by brain tumor.

Paul was certainly taken from this life too soon. He had a profound perspective that we can't understand, until we too face death. And even then his perspective is different due to his age and knowledge of impending death. I will leave you with some of the passages from the book that have stayed with me:

As I sat there, I realized that the questions intersecting life, death, and meaning, questions that all people face at some point, usually arise in the medical context.

Death comes for us all. For us, for our patients; it is our fate as living, breathing, metabolizing organisms.

Grand illnesses are supposed to be life clarifying. Instead I knew I was going to die – but I'd known that before. My state of knowledge was the same, but my ability to make lunch plans had been shot to hell.

Yet I returned to the central values of Christianity – sacrifice, redemption, forgiveness – because I found them so compelling. There is tension in the Bible between justice and mercy, between the Old Testament and the New Testament. And the New Testament says you can never be good enough: goodness is the thing, and you can never live up to it. The main message of Jesus, I believed, is that mercy trumps justice every time.

On a lighter note, here is a sampling of what I've been reading online lately:
No Food is Healthy, Not Even Kale via The Washington Post
How to Listen When You Disagree via Urban Confessional
Race, Truth and Our Two Realities via The New York Times
Why Calls for "Unity" in American Politics are Not Enough via Quartz
A Few Thoughts on Unity via Design for Mankind
Encouraging Everyone to Vote Is Like Telling Everyone... via Mike Rowe
Nine Ways Lazy Parenting Helps Grow Great Grown Ups via Anna Rosenblum Palmer
The Great School Diaspora via Discover Praxis
What Your Kids Need to Know Before Starting School via Babble

Things I Read in June (#7-9)

Disclaimer: Penguin Random House sent me the following trilogy to review. All opinions about these books are my own.

I am not one to turn down free books, even if they are a genre I might not typically read. That is where I found myself when Penguin reached out to ask if I would review the final book in the Kerning Family trilogy by Michael McGarrity. I replied saying I was willing to review the book in question but that I had not read the first two books. They offered to send me all three.

So last month I found myself diving into a Western series that I probably would not have given a second glance. Here are my thoughts.

First up in the trilogy is Hard Country. This book introduces us to the first of the Kerning cowboys who are attemping to build lives for themselves in the wild west, but they are only managing to scratch out a miserly living. In this book we are introduced to the first two generations of Kerney men. This book was fascinating in its look into cowboys and the early United States spanning the years of 1875-1918, but I had a hard time getting into this book as there was very little dialogue. The abruptness of the difficult things that happened during this book was a bit shocking, and left me with more questions than answers. Overall I wish there was more character development of this old, forgotten generation.

The second book, Backlands, introduces us to Matthew, a third generation Kerney cowboy. This book has more character development and I began to get a better understanding of who this family was. I don't know if this was intentional on the part of the author, but as the books developed and crossed decades, the language of the book became freer. Almost as if the late 1800s and early 1900s were too difficult for the people to waste breath telling their stories. This second book is more about the relationships that developed within the family and how the past continued to shape their decisions in the present. This was my favorite book of the series and made me anxious to read more.

And the final installment of the trilogy, The Last Ranch, introduces Kevin, the fourth generation Kerney. In this book we see relationships being mended between generations. Kevin Kerney brings us into a more recent time period and the relationships and language describing the relationships gets even looser. I closed out this trilogy right before July 4th and it made an impression on me as I thought about how much our country has changed over the last 240 years. Within the span of a few generations our lives are so different from our forefathers. It was also fascinating reading about these men who fought in so many different wars – Cuba, WWI, WWII and finally Vietnam. Those glimpses of war and love for country is not something I think about in my day-to-day life.

The author has a series of books about Kevin Kerney (written in the 90s). This trilogy felt like a prequel to that series and I have to be honest and say that I wasn't a fan that the final book wasn't neatly wrapped up. I probably won't continue with the series, but if you are a fan of westerns and want a long-standing series (longer than a trilogy) to read, I think you would enjoy these books. I enjoyed the historical parts and I think the author was well researched.

I gave all three books 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. I enjoyed them and they are definitely books I would recommend to my dad and anyone else I know who loves westerns or historical fiction.

Here is a sampling of what I've been reading online lately:
10 Rules of Easy Entertaining via A Cup of Jo
How to Not Take Things Personally via Design for Mankind
The Internet is Making Us Dumb via Salon
The End of Reflection via The New York Times
In Praise of "Scruff Hospitality" via Mother Nature Network
The Problem for Obama via The Telegraph
From 80s Latchkey Kid to Helicopter Parent via CNN.com
Why Constant Learners All Embrace the 5-Hour Rule via inc.com
Thoughts on Being American via Fresh Off The Grid
Notes from the Child-Full Life via Outside Online

Things I Read in May (#6)

Last month Daniel had the opportunity to attend Leadercast in Atlanta. As part of the swag, he came home with several books written by speakers at the event. One of the books was The Power of the Other by Dr. Henry Cloud (co-author of the Boundaries books).

This book outlines the healthy relationships one must have in order to be a good leader, and how the people around you have an impact on how well you do life. I am currently not in a leadership position (not within a business anyway), but I found the concepts to be applicable to marriage and also to parenting.

Dr. Cloud's book outlines the four corners of relationships – the first three being toxic with the goal to get to Corner Four. As a parent, I felt myself nodding along with the feeling that I have definitely gotten stuck in Corner One before.

In Corner One you are disconnected from those around you and making poor decisions because you are isolated. In Corner Two you have a bad connection – for example someone is making you feel bad about yourself or you get yourself in a situation where something you are doing makes you feel guilty. And finally, Corner Three relationships offer a "False Good Connection" where your ego is being stroked but no one is telling you the truth. 

The goal should be to Corner Four where you can have a real connection to the people around you; where you can give and receive honest feedback without getting your feelings hurt.

This book was a fairly easy read and I thought it had some great points. It made me reevaluate some of the ways I have been making decisions lately. This book also took me back to the days I was working in an office setting and reminded me of the differences in good and bad leadership. I actually quit a job at one point because of poor leadership. Whether working under good or bad leadership, I always walk away with a desire to learn from, and then do better in my own life.

I gave The Power of the Other 4 stars on Goodreads.

A sampling of what I've been reading online lately:
Guilt's a Punk via Marriage Confessions
This Study Could Have Reshaped the American Diet via The Washington Post
Lessons from Backdoor Friends via Under the Sycamore
Are Today's Parents Getting a Raw Deal? via The Huffington Post
To the Discourraged Mothers via We are THAT Family
How I Negotiated $15,000 More... via The Muse
Be the Boss, Not the #GirlBoss via The Broadcast
Life Lessons by the Decade via The Pioneer Woman
Dear Chewbacca Momma via Thistle and Toad
Venezuela is Falling Apart via Business Insider
How I Slowed My Family Down via The Huffington Post
15 Words Every Outdoor Lover Should Know via Outside Online

Things I Read in April (#5)

Can I just say that I am really struggling to read this year... 

It probably has something to do with not having had a single full night's sleep in the last year. Or the fact that I am now juggling two kids as part of my daily responsibilities, but truthfully I just haven't felt like it.

It's a strange thing to admit, that I don't want to read.

It probably has something to do with my passions changing with this new-ish season of life. There was a time when all I wanted to read was mysteries, ala Mary Higgens Clark. And there was a John Grisham phase, followed by years where I explored lots of different genres of literature. Post college I was enamored with leadership and business-focused books. But since I am not in the process of actively growing my business, these types of books no longer hold the same appeal they once did. I will occasionally pick up a parenting book, but while helpful, I find that I am more interested in parenting from my instincts and knowledge of my child verses the advice of an expert who doesn't know me or my children. Not to mention the fact that the internet provides quick access to information which makes plowing through an entire book seems like a waste of time.

Anyways, I don't fully know why I haven't been reading but those are my guesses.

Here is a taste of what I've been reading online:

The Secret to Being a Happy Mom by Dirt & Boogers 

She Only Said "Yes" Once by For Every Mom 

Outdoorsy People are Nicer than Indoorsy People by Adventure Machine 

You are Not "Too Much" via The Huffington Post

Parenting Starts Now by Hither & Thither

That Moment When 2016 Hits You via The Washington Post

How Americans Became so Sensitive via The Atlantic 

This Stage of Life? It's Hard by Austin Mom's Blog  
  

As for real, actual books, in April I read the book, Every Bitter Thing is Sweet by Sara Hagerty. This book is a reflection on facing lost expectations and learning to rely fully on God and his promises. There is a level that I connected with this book, having experienced miscarriage and various other lost expectations throughout my lifetime, but I had a hard time relating to the overall experience found within the pages of this book. 

From her struggle with infertility to the decision to adopt multiple times, I just couldn't get into this book. I don't like that I feel this way in the sense that this is a real person sharing her real struggles... Maybe my feelings have to do with where my personal passions currently are (see above), maybe it was the way parts of the book rambled, or it was the way her poetic language describes her personal relationship to God while my own interactions with God never feel beautiful or poetic. I don't know, but it took me weeks to finish this book and I ended up feeling a bit cynical about the ending. I think it's time for me to consider a new genre of books. Any suggestions?! 

Books I Finished in March, 2016 (#4)

I started reading The Fringe Hours, Making Time for You by Jessica N. Turner back in February. It's an easy read but I had a hard time really getting into it, thus the two months to finish. 

The idea of finding extra time in your fringe hours is a solid one, and I think this book is worth the read if you find yourself feeling overwhelmed and in the middle of a busy season of life.

That being said, I already implement many of the suggestions in this book, and I tend to under commit instead of over committing myself... I have meal planned for years; I find time to exercise because I find that I am a nicer person when I work out consistently; I read books while I have to wait any kind of line; and I carve out time in the evenings to do my freelance work (the author uses early morning as her extra time, but I am a night owl). Similar suggestions can be found in the pages of this book. 

The area I struggle the most to find time for is personal time with God. Last year I offered to facilitate a women's bible study on Wednesday nights and it helped me to be more consistently in the Word during that time period. 

Likewise, last fall when I felt like I was in need of connecting with other moms, I started inviting a group to my house on Tuesday mornings for coffee. An unexpected benefit of having ladies over on a weekly basis was that it helped me to consistently clean my house in preparation for company.

So, while I didn't personally garner great insight from this book, I do think it offers good tips if you are struggling to better manage your life, or to find time to do the things you love without feeling guilty.

A few quotes that stuck with me:

We can't have balance if activities in our life are neatly scheduled but we are overwhelmed, exhausted, and emotional.

Research shows that people who keep a gratitude list are happier people.

Acknowledgment of your passion is significant, courageous, and meaningful.

Your kids are never going to remember the condition of your cabinets, but they will remember what their home felt like.

I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. Not because it isn't a good book, but because it didn't provide me with additional understanding of my own life.

Some other things I've been reading online lately:
The Lay of the Land by Design for Mankind
Parenting Around the World by A Cup of Jo
Can We Bring the Holidays Down a Notch? by Rage Against the MiniVan via HuffPo
Serial and Modern StoryTelling by Hither and Thither 
Funniest Parenting Tweets by The Huffington Post 
CarePortal (111 Project) by Under the Sycamore 
Mom, You're Doing a Great Job by We Are THAT Family 

In addition to reading, I recently went on two road trips and had the opportunity to listen to Season 1 of the Serial podcast while driving through the night. The podcast is from the creators of This American Life, and hosted by Sarah Koenig. Sarah spends a year looking into the conviction of a teenager in the murder of his ex-girlfriend. It was the perfect late night story to listen to as it is not for little ears. I look forward to listening to Season 2 when I have a chance.