Playful Rooted

We met some new friends in the kids’ book club Luca and I started a few months ago, and they invited us over to their house for a play date last week. The mom warned us before entering, “My house is a DISASTER,” and in my head I thought, “Is she being real, or is this the flex that women sometimes do where they claim they’re so ashamed of their (usually very) clean space?”

It was the former. She was being real.

And

I

LOVED

it.

Look, their house was not dirty or gross or anything bordering on that. It was, however, messy. Cluttered in the best way. Their daughter had just turned six, and they had the leftover birthday party trappings all over the dining room table. There were toys and games left out and discarded socks on the floor. Cups in the sink, books and a hairbrush on the kitchen counter. Just all the stuff of actual LIFE with kids.

It filled me with absolute joy to see another space that looked so real, so lived in and comfortable and friendly. The type of place where your kid could spill a cup of juice and you could clean it up without having to apologize profusely and make your child feel awkward and embarrassed. I loved that this friend invited us over to her messy home in the first place and that she didn’t apologize for the clutter AT ALL. She didn’t need to. It was perfect. I was inspired.

Now, understand, I like a clean house. I really do. I have actually been doing some really big cleaning tasks now that all our summer visitors have come and gone. But in this phase of life, our home is a different kind of clean. Kid Clean, you know? Vacuumed floors, clean toilets, and Lego sets spilled all over the living room. It’s a vibe.

So, here’s to Kid Clean houses, and if yours is such, don’t hesitate to invite your friends over. They’re gonna love it.

Good Things Lately

Lingopie – I’m always on a quest to get more French learning happening in our house, and the other day when Luca asked for another TV show, I said absolutely, as long as he watched it in French. He moaned and complained, and I said, “Okay, no show then.” “FINE I’LL WATCH IT IN FRENCH.”

When we lived in France, I met tons of people who had learned English by watching American cartoons as kids, so I know it’s a totally valid way to learn. I have searched for a long time to find a convenient way for the kids to watch French cartoons, but I’ve been underwhelmed by what I could find on YouTube (although the kids do like Muzzy, anyone else remember watching that in middle school??). Recently, I signed up for a free trial of Lingopie, and I have been super impressed so far! It’s basically Netflix (like, you actually connect through Netflix), but for language learning. As you watch a show in your desired language, you can see translations, click on words you don’t know, save a list of vocabulary words/phrases to study, etc. I know this is a very niche service, so I won’t geek out TOO much here in case you don’t care, but it’s pretty dang cool and just as great for adults as it is kids.

Zen Zone – When we were in Arizona in the spring, we stayed at Ben’s grandma’s house in Tucson, where she has the most amazing outdoor space with lots of seating, beautiful plants, lights, wind chimes, just everything that makes being outside a wonderful experience. When we came home, I was determined to create such a space in our lives. So for my combined Mother’s Day and birthday present, I bought this amazing outdoor sectional and set to work making our mostly-unused deck into a Zen Zone. A zone of zen.

We’ve got seating. We’ve got flowers and herbs and veggies growing. We’ve got pillows and blankets to cozy up with. We’ve got wind chimes and bird feeders and a place to set your drink.

It’s my favorite place and I never want to go inside!

Gardening gurus might notice that in the following picture, tucked between the zinnias and celosia, there are several sunflower plants growing. This was an unplanned result of this pot originally being under a bird feeder that was stocked with sunflower seeds for our avian friends. At first, I started removing all the sunflower sprouts as they started popping up, but eventually I decided to just go with it and see what happens. No flowers yet, but I think it will be really cool if we get a couple!

A Little Wordy – This is such a fun little word guessing game! Super easy and very quick playing, it’s sort of like a two-player version of Wordle. (Is anyone still Wordle-ing? I stopped months ago, but Luca is becoming a proficient enough speller that he is now obsessed and begs me to play it every morning.) Ben and I play A Little Wordy when we don’t want to just zone out and watch a TV show, but we’re too tired to, like, set up a whole board game and play it. Highly recommended if you like word games! (Although this will always and forever be my fave.)

The Crowded Room – Speaking of zoning out with a TV show. If you haven’t seen this new psychological thriller on Apple TV+, drop what you’re doing and go watch it. I am legitimately obsessed with it and the unbelievable true story behind it. I can’t even really tell you what it’s about because I might ruin it. To be safe, you shouldn’t even look it up on the internet first. Just do yourself a favor and watch it!

Like other Apple TV+ shows, this show comes out in the new, old-fashioned, once-a-week format, and I LOVE that. It gives me something to look forward to all week, and Ben and I intentionally block out time on Friday evenings to watch it (while we eat these, which we hide from the kids in the back of the freezer). Remember those days, before this entire world turned into instant gratification? It is truly agonizing, though, waiting for the next episode – but I think the wait makes it even better. The very last episode comes out this Friday and I’m DYING with anticipation!

Marlow pillows – It took us 13 years of marriage to invest in actual nice, grown up pillows. Now that we have them, I don’t understand what we were doing for all that time! These pillows are awesome because you can easily adjust them to the firmness that you prefer. You simply zip or unzip one side (or both) to make the pillow softer or firmer (making them perfect for a guest room, too). I absolutely love mine! I swear I sleep better on this pillow than I ever did on our random ones from Kohl’s or wherever.

These pillows are expensive (they’re from Brooklinen, after all), so I recommend waiting for a 20-30% off sale, which they run from time to time. However, they are such good quality and the design is so smart that I’d say they’re worth it even at full price.

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In other news, Pria turned two years old (what??) last week, so you know I’ve got a post in progress about all her updates (some exciting ones!). Sawyer also turned FOUR – sob. My baby boy!! We’ve had a very busy summer around here with visitors, trips of our own, play dates, birthday parties, pool days, and lots of life happening. Busy, but great. Life with three small kids is really hard, but it’s starting to get really fun, too. Part of the time. 😉 Hope everyone has had similarly wonderful summers! I’ll catch you next time I find an hour to myself…. hahaha. Ha.

xo!