For the Love of February

Your monthly roundup of links and recs!

Hello, how are you?

Lately, this feels like a loaded question. Take your pick from all of the things—the state of world affairs, illness season, summer camp registrations while it still snows, and so on. I don’t know who needs this but I am just going to drop this right up front here:

Essential Self-Compassion for Bold Parents

Let’s keep this short and sweet and hopefully you find something to bring a little joy or interest into your day.

Photo by Denys Amaro on Unsplash

Stuff to read

This month I have been inspired to subtract a lot of things to reduce the noise. And speaking of subtraction, how about a book about it? Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less* by Leidy Klotz highlights how often we neglect the use of subtraction as a tool and tend to add instead.

“We pile on “to-dos” but don’t consider “stop-doings.” We create incentives for good behavior, but don’t get rid of obstacles to it. We collect new-and-improved ideas, but don’t prune the outdated ones. Every day, across challenges big and small, we neglect a basic way to make things better: we don’t subtract. Klotz’s pioneering research shows us what is true whether we’re building Lego models, cities, grilled-cheese sandwiches, or strategic plans: Our minds tend to add before taking away, and this is holding us back.

But we have a choice—our blind spot need not go on taking its toll. Subtract arms us with the science of less and empowers us to revolutionize our day-to-day lives and shift how we move through the world. More or less.”

And I may have just mentioned the concept of subtraction, but now I am going to add things by suggesting you read and listen to the stuff below. We humans are somewhat flawed…

More stuff to read

• Help Children Suffer by

  Tracy Dennis-Tiwary

• What if these are the best days of your life? by

  Stephanie Gilman

• Why Living Our Values Means Accepting Painful Emotions by

  Amber Groomes,Ph.D. (she/her)

• Children’s books about bodies and bodily joy by

  Sarah Miller

• Our Favorite Neurodiversity Affirming Picture Books by

  Heidi Fiedler

Stuff to listen to

• This episode from

  The Culture Study Podcast
  is all Dad:

The Heart of Dad Culture

• I haven’t been listening to too many podcasts lately (see above the note about noise), but I have been listening to a lot of audiobooks. Here are three fun audiobooks:

  

  All very different but all are a fun listening experience dependent on what you enjoy.

  How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior, The Favorites by Layne Fargo, and Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan.

This Month on A Wonderful Mess

• Multicultural Family, Multicultural Life, a guest essay from

  CynthiaCM

• 8 Things No One Tells You About Having a Daughter, a guest essay from

  Lauren Salles

• Reading Planning Instead of Meal Planning

And one more thing…

I know that everyone already knows this…but this is an amazing family game. Still recovering from shoulder surgery, I need to be careful with my card slapping—I can get a little too excited.

Have you listened to any good audiobooks lately? Share in the comments.

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*I am an affiliate of bookshop.org, if you purchase through this link I will earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you)

As always—Just a little reminder: The content on A Wonderful Mess posted by Dr. Kathryn Barbash, PsyD, is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical, clinical, legal, or professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Reliance on any information provided is solely at your own risk. Always seek the advice of your licensed mental health professional or other qualified health provider.