For the Love of May

A monthly list of recommendations+snacks+ news about audio+share your story

May 30, 2024

Welcome to the For the Love of series. For those who are new here, this is a monthly roundup of stuff…some to read, some to listen to, some to snack, and other random delights.

You can check out previous posts with links and recommendations here.

It’s the end of May, we made it. I just wanted to share, that if anyone has questioned the relevance of this newsletter’s name, please view the above photo evidence of muddy footprints. A couple of weeks ago, “a pond” was created that resulted in a head-to-toe mud immersion experience. It was followed by a spa-like deep scrub experience for 3 children. Was this mom mindful in the mud? Well, she tried and that’s all she could do. Now onto the links and recs.

Stuff to read

My book pick from this month is:

Lessons For Survival: Mothering Against “The Apocalypse”* by Emily Raboteau,. The book “is a probing series of pilgrimages from the perspective of a mother struggling to raise her children to thrive without coming undone in an era of turbulent intersecting crises.” This was a meaningful, jarring, beautiful and difficult read. I first learned of it in
Anya Kamenetz
’s newsletter, The Golden Hour: climate, children, mental health, you can find her interview with Emily Raboteau here to learn more.
*I am an affiliate of bookshop.org and will earn a small commission if you use the above link to purchase (at no additional cost to you).

And here are other great reads from around the Substack town:

This guest post on Can We Read? titled, What Picture Books Have Taught Me About Limitless Wonder, describes what picture books can bring to adults.
This one on from
Sri Juneja
, 5 Books About Fostering Kids’ Love for Art, an interview with Beth Spencer of
Introvert Drawing Club
.
This post from
Katie Hawkins-Gaar
, Discomfort is Normal—and Rewarding is beautiful.
An interview with KC Davis “Laziness Doesn’t Exist:” A Conversation with KC Davis from A Year of Mental Health.
And Everything I Know About Babies Came from Soap Operas by
Shelly Mazzanoble
was a wonderful laugh. I watched soap operas everyday afterschool with my mom, probably not always great, but this brought back so many memories.

Stuff to eat

Let’s talk snacks… “ants on a log” that is.

black ant on black wire — Photo by Prabir Kashyap on Unsplash

No, the edible kind. Remember the snack of childhood: peanut butter on celery with raisins? In our house we swap in almond butter but this has become a delightful warm weather snack…for me. Only one of my kids “kind of” likes it. It is both refreshing and nostalgic. What are you snacking on?

Stuff to listen to

This one from Pop Culture Moms is about moms feeling the pressure of being “good”.

Culture Study talks about why we get so mad at celebs.

And this from Emily Oster of ParentData. Having worked as a clinician with teens and young adults, so much of this conversation mirrored my professional experience.

This month on Mindful Mom in the Mud

We met Doris (the inner critic) in Introducing Doris, The Inner Critic: Putting down the second arrow
There was a birthday celebration (mine) with some birthday reflections and wishes in Get Out the Balloons and Party Hats
Opening up to awe every day…even in the bathroom in The Everyday Awe of Chipmunks
Is deep curiosity what we need to help us connect in our parenthood? Maybe. Check out more in A Case for Curiosity in Parent Culture
Who Supports You? A post about a simple question with a somtimes complicated answer. Check it out for resources on mental health including others who are writing about topics related to mental health.

Coming up

It may be the end of May, but October is right around the corner. I am so excited to be a panelist at the 2024 Mental Health & Motherhood Virtual Conference hosted by Motherhood Minute , written by

Chanel Riggle

. You can check out the conference speakers here. The conference focus is “How can we treat ourselves with compassion?” Stay tuned for more details.

ICYMI

There is now audio for the weekly newsletter posts. And the cool thing is, many of you are listening. If you prefer to stick to reading the newsletter, that’s great, the words aren’t going anywhere. And if you like to listen on the go, you get this handy podcast.

Here is what you need to know about the audio:

The Monday posts will have accompanying audio. Posts that aren’t great in audio format (like ones with many links) will not have a podcast episode.
There will be some posts that have a paid-subscriber only portion. These paid sections will be bonus commentary about the topic like behind-the-scenes stories, additional thoughts, personal anecdotes, or gossip (no, not really).
For the posts with paid content, free subscribers will still have access to the written post and the audio for the essay, but to get the lively add-ons you will need to be a paid subscriber. Even if the post says, Preview or Paid, you will still get access to the whole written post and audio, so don’t miss out.
You can also set up the podcast feed so that the audio will conveniently show up each week on Apple podcasts or Spotify. This link has more information from Substack on this.

A request for stories

I will be writing about the process of sharing kids’ neurodivergent identifications with extended family/friends for the Neurodivergent Notes series.

I’m looking to talk to others about their experiences. No specifics or identifying information about a child is needed and if you would like to stay anonymous in the piece that is fine. Looking to hear about the process/experience of informing others in your life, things that worked well or things you would do differently. If interested, you can respond directly to this email or send a direct message through the Substack app. Thank you in advance!

And one more thing

It’s “read on the deck” season. This is where you will find me most mornings for the next few months, until a kid comes looking for pants (why is it always pants?). What are your reading spots?