For the Love of March
Fresh links and recs for you
Hello, dear readers…
It is spring, and I am welcoming this new season with open arms. March took some unexpected turns in my house. It was a bit much, in my opinion. But there is something about the change of season that brings hope and excitement. Maybe it’s more light, more flowers, but I am definitely looking forward to what this spring may bring.
I’ve been thinking about
’s advice, so I am changing some of the monthly recommendation categories moving forward. Spring is always a good time to do something fresh.So here is your spring bouquet of links and recs.
Stuff for reading
Taking Breaks from the News is Not a Moral Failure by
Don’t call us heroes. Help us. by
No Wonder We’re Scared of Screen Time by
3 Wonderfully Whimsical Wimmelbooks by
(I did not know what a Wimmelbook was and I am now a better person for knowing)
Stuff for doing
Building community: I have been enjoying The How to Find Your People Club from
, author of . I appreciated this post and this one, too. I find the perspective and approach of The How to Find Your People Club more compassionate and realistic than some of the “advice” out there on the topic of community (it’s also fun).Temptation Bundling: I have been revisiting some books about behavior change as I am working on a guide for reading in parenthood coming in late spring (just in time for the summer reading season). In Katy Milkman’s book, How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be*, she describes temptation bundling as a way to address present bias. Present bias is basically that we tend to prefer instantly gratifying things over things that may benefit us in the long term but are not as fun or shiny. Milkman explains, “Mary Poppins has it right. When goal pursuit is made instantly gratifying by adding “an element of fun,” present bias can be overcome.” I am sure some of you have implemented this type of advice before, like watching a favorite Netflix to facilitate completing chores. Earlier this week, I shared some of the challenges of physical therapy for my shoulder. Physical therapy is a very boring task in addition to the other challenges of getting it done. So I have been temptation bundling with audiobooks and TV shows. Here are two of my recent pairings for PT—The Wedding People by Alison Espach on audio and The Residence streaming on Netflix. I’ve been using temptation bundling for many years around exercise and chores, but it has gotten me thinking, are there other possibilities for temptation bundling? I like to think of temptation bundling as a way of bringing more pleasure into your day to day tasks, as opposed to a productivity hack even though it may help you get some things done. What about you—do you do any temptation bundling?
Remembering to bring/read my book: If you want a cue to remember to grab your book before you leave the house or a reminder to read instead of getting lost in your phone, take a picture of your book and make it your phone wallpaper.
In October I had the great privilege to join an amazing group of presenters for the 2024 Mental Health and Motherhood Virtual Conference. Mark your calenders for the 2025 Mental Health and Motherhood Summit hosted by
on October 10, 2025. If you are interested in applying to be a speaker, you can find more information in this post.
This month on A Wonderful Mess
How Do You Not Lose It With Your Kids? with contributions from
, , , and
And one more thing
Giving books as party favors is my new favorite thing: My 2nd grader had his birthday party this month, which included watching Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox (one of his all-time favorite movies). Since the movie is based on the book by Roald Dahl, we decided on books as party favors. We walked the aisles of the bookstore, and he picked books from his favorite authors and series. All the partygoers got a book and he shared with some of his friends why he selected those particular books. I’ve decided moving forward that this will be how we do party favors for all future parties.
What about you?
Do you do any temptation bundling? When and what do you bundle?
Any fun party favors you have given or received?
Thanks for the shout out! And I’m a huge fan (obviously) of children’s books as favors. I do this for my daughter’s birthdays and it’s always a hit!
I love the book favors idea! We have two little-little kids (1 and 3) and our go-to favors have been either bubbles with a “thank-you for coming” note attached, or a small coloring book with like 5 crayons (or a small pack of crayons). Parents love these! They’re consumable and easy to stick in a backpack or diaper back for entertainment on the go.
For our daughter’s 3rd birthday, we even found an Etsy seller who put together a custom coloring kit that matched the party theme, included a thank you note, and cost less than $2 per favor. We felt like we struck gold!