IE: A full quarter of the year spent in a COVID-19-altered state.
When I look back and consider how it’s gone for us thus far, I just feel very very lucky. I have no idea what is coming, but I have virtually nothing to complain about. I have accomplished some things and have learned some things (especially about what feels truly essential for me and what does not).
And that is good. Maybe some more reflections on lessons learned coming next week.
Right now though I am just going to write out the week’s grocery list & plan out the day. I did finish workout #26 of 80 Day Obsession this morning which means I’m done with Phase 1! I have looked ahead and am . . . mildly scared. Wish me luck.
OH! And this happened, courtesy of Josh:
I have not written as much about current events (Black Lives Matter, anti-racism, and the like), but have been continuing to spend a lot of time thinking about them. I am listening to (new to me) podcasts, and teaching the kids about what is going on: explaining how things are, what we can do, and how things must change, with a focus on hope that things will be different when their generation comes of age.
One podcast I really enjoyed along these lines last week was Redefining Wealth with Patrice Washington. She normally speaks about non-financial aspects of wealth, but last week’s episode (go to #100, Pruning) was a personal reflection on recent events, and I found it powerful and moving.
And — one tiny thing — if you are looking for toddler or children’s books with non-white protagonists (we have some but not enough), The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is a huge hit with Genevieve and Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty is a newer classic.
13 Comments
The Snowy Day is probably my favorite children’s book ever.
And Tiny Boy and Cameron are sporting the same haircut.
I’ve enjoyed this series of yours.
There is also a short movie of The Snowy Day on Netflix that is really cute. G might enjoy, even if it’s not quite the season (not that it matters in FL!).
Oops, I meant Amazon Prime.
We love the book Jabari Jumps
It looks totally cute! Will get it.
A second for Jabari Jumps!
Another podcast you might like is Acadames. Both hosts are moms and professors at UNC Chapel Hill (both in public health/policy and epidemiology) – one is Black, the other White. All the episodes are good, but in the most recent one Whitney talked about her experience as a Black woman right now and it was incredibly powerful and moving.
Personally, I’ve been thinking a lot about Black men being attacked while they are out running. As a woman, I mostly run with a group for my personal safety, but it honestly never occurred to me until recently that the Black men in the group may run with us for the same reason. However, if I ever needed help I know that the police would do so without hesitation. For Black men who run, I’m sure the burden is always on them to prove that they are “legitimately” out for exercise and not for some kind of nefarious purpose. To say it is awful is an understatement, but I can’t come up with something better…
YES to all this, re: the running.
We loved More More More Said the Baby by Vera B. Williams, which has babies and parents from various cultures.
I was given the picture book Nina: Jazz legend and civil rights activist Nina Simone by Alice Briere-Haquet from a librarian. I felt it was really powerful and my kids (4 and 6) liked it.
Have you heard of “own voices” in the literary community? It’s a label started by Corinne Duyvis (http://www.corinneduyvis.net/ownvoices/) that highlights books by authors from marginalized communities writing about their own experiences, rather than white people writing about the experiences of marginalized groups. Both books you mentioned were written by white authors, and while that is not to dismiss them, I do think we need to be aware of who is doing the writing. Own voices is a great resource for finding truly diverse books and supporting those authors.
Great resource – I will admit I did not look up the authors’ ethnicity for this post bc they were just two books we happened to love but that’s a great point.
This is a few days late, but we really love Dream Big, Little One by Vashti Harrison. All of her books are lovely, and A & C might enjoy the ones geared towards older kids. She also illustrated Hair Love by Matthew Cherry, which I haven’t read yet but I’ve heard great things about it (especially as being an excellent book about Black people living their everyday lives, as opposed to just dealing with tragedy).