My friends. My beautiful friends. You canāt tell me ANYTHING today because my kids started back to school this week and I feel my powers returning. Sheās back in a routine. Sheās Lexapro-ed. Sheās watching TWO TV shows. She made a meal plan and stuck with it. Sheās discovered these oversized boyfriend button-downs. Is there functional chaos all around? Yes. Are we bothered? Not this week, my friends. Not this week.
And so, in honor of these small people returning to structure, itās Q+A Week. On the Swipe Up+, we talked about parenting after purity culture (likeā¦what DO we want our kids to know about sex?), mom guilt, and disappointing people. Hereās an exerpt:
But what I discovered is that a person who is so disappointed in me for making a change that it would trash our relationship are not people who loved me, but people who loved when my choices served them.
If youād like to join us in the Swipe Up+, just click below to get started. And as usual, if a subscription isnāt in the budget, weād love to give you one for free dollars. Just email hello@erinhmoon.com and weāll get it taken care of, no questions asked.
But I did save some Qs to be Aed here on Lil Treasures, so buckle up, ācause weāre going in: rapid fire style.
Q: Whatās one viral video that leaves you in tears youāre laughing so hard? ā @wavesbythewater
A: Itās definitely this absolutely bonkers music video.
Q: Whatās your go-to mantra when it comes to mothering? I need a phrase to repeat to myself. ā @_em_possible
A: When I was actively working with Mary Van Geffen, she had me repeat to myself āI am the conductor of peace in my home.ā every time I walked into my house. I still do it!
Q: Best way youāve learned to navigate preteen hormones/angst/in-between stage? ā @_vickiehogan_
A: Take almost nothing personally. Become unoffendable.
Q: What do you wish you knew when you were 24? ā @shelbihan
A: Wear sunscreen daily. Quit wishing you were at the next stage of life (impossible, I know). Screw up. Try new things. Travel.
Q: What are you most looking forward to this fall? ā @troxellr
A: The return of Erin Moon, Sports Mom.
Q: Are you a planner user? I need one for mom life and working from home and its all overwhelming. ā @mirmade85
A: I use the Get to Work Book and itās the only planner Iāve ever been consistent with!
I got a lot of questions this time, so I may do a part two next week, yes?
Okay, letās do the treasures!
ā¾ Get your tissues ready, because this grandpa/grandson baseball moment will put you in your feels š¤§
š½This hilarious child talking about his love for corn is my video comfort blanket of the week. How I feel after watching it:
š„ļø Anne Helen Peterson, an excellent writer who has done extensive research on work culture, published this article about women working from home. If you are a woman who has spent any time in that WFH culture, make sure you give it a read!
šI am so jazzed about Shannon K Evansās new book Feminist Prayers for My Daughter which is set to release in early 2023. You can find out more about it and pre-order your copy here! I loved Shannonās book Rewilding Motherhood as well.
šāāļøFive stars to this video of potential smash hits from the Bible.
š To all my now-grown theatre kids who have their own children now, may we leave this kind of legacy.
š Many thanks to those of you who took the Lil Swipes survey and gave us your brilliant thoughts! We love to use your insight to help us notice the blind spots and to improve this space for you to continue to enjoy. We had almost two thousand responses come through, which is truly amazing!
And so without further adieu, the two winners for the Amazon gift card giveaway areā¦ā¦.burgessbunch4@gmail.com and baileyonealpr@gmail.com! Send us an email at hello@erinhmoon.com and we will help you claim your prize!
šLast treasure for the week is this Denzel + Break My Soul mash-up. The internet contains multitudes.
This weekās Tweets:
This one sent me
Have one heck of a weekend, pals! Looking forward to reading your treasures!
Hello everyone!
Micro things (things that immediately affect me) have settled down while macro things (things that don't directly affect me, but I give headspace to anyways) have made it seem as though the universe is coasting down the arc of justice. Enjoying my last week of vacation before college classes start back up on the 22nd.
Here are my treasures:
-Reading consistently at night, (devotion, poetry, chapter in a book) has really helped me in my reading game. Grace and peace to all fairy godmother librarians out there!
-Knitting and listening to Sharon McMahon's First Ladies podcasts. She is just a delight. :)
- @kniturgy , @bluesprucebakery , @davenportlibrary , and @bethanyjoyful have been my comfort IG pages this week. I know that there is a lot of debate going on around social media and I want to listen to Pantsuit Politics new episode on that, but I have found so many creative gardeners, bakers, makers, and readers that inspire me.
-We have so many raspberries, tomatoes, and zinnias that we had a free mini farm stand last night in our front yard and everything was taken aside from 4 tomatoes! (If you are in IA/IL, please come and help with our tomato situation!!!) It was such a fun way to meet neighbors and give away some homegrown food. I have some videos on my IG stories @sarahmasterson_ if you would like to follow along in our gardening adventures and misadventures!
Have the best weekend available to you, lovelies!
I made it a whole minute into that music video. Please clap. Here is another ridiculous music video, but it has the advantage of being a good song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOGPHUFAxWQ
Sometimes I think about the fact that there are people who knew me in high school that still like me, and it's pretty mind-blowing.
After the driest July on record, apparently all that was needed was to just turn the calendar page because it has rained several days this month already, with more forecasted for next week.
Seeing that documentary last week kicked off my semi-annual Leonard Cohen bender, in which it's all Leonard all the time for who knows how long. Days, weeks, months, all of these are options. Various Positions is a perfect album and you all should go listen to it, preferably with whatever beverage makes you feel sophisticated.