Notes from the little years
Honest, unsponsored writing on gifts, growing up, and getting everyone out the door in one piece. No slop, no affiliate fog — just what we'd actually tell a friend.
The Halloween costume they can actually walk in
Nothing over the face, a size up for layers, their own shoes. How to choose a costume from the top down.
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A baby's first Halloween is about forty minutes long
Supper first, the costume last, one picture on the step, three houses, and home in pajamas by dark.
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Thirteen things for a boo basket that aren't candy
By age, for babies, toddlers and big kids — plus what goes in the second bowl at the door.
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Thirteen Halloween books, from not scary to a little bit scary
The October box: board books, read-alouds, and a few with a friendly shiver, sorted by nerve.
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The pumpkin patch outfit, and the blanket that goes with it
Dress them for the weather first and the photograph second. A cardigan, a bonnet, the right shoes — and a blanket, because hay is scratchy.
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A baby's first Christmas, from a grandmother on her fifth
The baby won't remember a minute of it; you'll remember all of it. Only three gifts are worth the name — one for the tree, one for the shelf, one for the mantel.
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What the first week tells you
August makes the list. The first real week grades it — and it is the five days after the first day, not the first day, that tell you what you actually needed.
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The answer I finally stopped giving
Our first book is out — fifty of the questions small children really ask, answered honestly. Including the ones where the honest answer is “nobody knows yet.”
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The after-school corner nobody's shopping for
Everyone's buying backpacks this month. The bag gets about eleven minutes a day; the afternoon gets four hours — and nobody is selling you the afternoon.
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The back-to-school list I actually keep
After enough first days to lose count, here's what earns its place in the bag — and what quietly gets left off.
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The school morning that (mostly) holds together
Nobody's morning is calm. But a few small things the night before mean mine falls apart less — and later.
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First-day keepsakes worth keeping
You'll forget the supply list by October. You won't forget the first morning — so keep one small honest thing from it.
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