Daylight Savings Stuff
I thought we were past the ages when the time changes are problematic. Though a quick trip down the blog’s memory lane shows that yep, last year kind of sucked too.
Sigh. I’m tired and bedtime has been terrible the past couple of nights. We had come SO FAR in terms of fixing bedtime — but I feel like lately it’s been more of a struggle and then DST was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Well. I AM PUTTING THE CAMEL ON AN AGGRESSIVE PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT PLAN because I need things to be calm and smooth again.
Interesting Timing
Jenny Odell’s name has come up like 5x in the last week or so for me — most recently through Cal Newport’s podcast and an email from a blog reader/BLPA member. Either her marketing engine is just nailing it (likely) or it’s just the universe providing me with a suggestion (less likely, but still plausible). Anyway, I ordered both of her books on a whim for my next non-fiction reads.
Currently I’m reading an advance of Kelly Fradin’s book Advanced Parenting for a podcast interview – thus far, she’s done a great job AND I’m enjoying reading it from both the parenting AND provider perspectives!
Kids Book Win:
Cameron has been a bit hard to win over when it comes to reading. He definitely enjoys graphic novels but ‘chapter books’ are more of a hard sell. Until this series:
He’s super into them! Even the non-graphic novel ones (they do have those too).
(I have nothing against graphic novels whatsoever but I do think it’s good for him to get practice / gain confidence reading books in the more ‘normal’ format as well!).
Anyway, there’s a small win to contrast the more whiny stuff in the first section 🙂
22 Comments
When are we going to abolish DST? Apparently the EU is on it, but who knows if the UK will follow suit? Ours isn’t for 2 more weeks, and luckily it’s a week I’m not travelling so we can all power through together. T is a pretty good sleeper though, mostly hard to wake up rather than to get down.
I love Jenny Odell’s work, I think of her every time I see a crow. And I can’t wait for her new book. I need to figure out where I am on its release date, so I can order it into the local bookshop. Same for Curtis Sittenfield’s new book. I have a visceral response to her writing – she writes cringe so, so well.
I think that age/gender is hard for reading. A cousin of a similar age loves the Horrible Histories. I think they need to be slightly gory/cheeky. We are very into How to Train Your Dragon here, on audiobook. And working our way through Elephant and Piggie for reading practice. I know the early readers scholl sends home are designed to teach phonics in a certain order, but my goodness they are boring. I make T read them 2x and we can practice with E&P the rest of the time.
My son also disliked reading (which was heartbreaking for me!) but he loved the I Survived Series, too. Other standouts were: Who Would Win, a series that compares imagined fights between wild animals, based on their physical characteristics, a series about cat tribes called Warriors, as well as a formulaic thriller series called American Chillers. He also read all of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books over and over and over.
My son loves the I Survived books, too! He’s 8 (almost 9). A few other series similar to those are the choose your own adventure books and he’s enjoyed the “Who Is”/“Who Are” books if you need more ideas 😊
Has your son read Nathan Hale’s hazardous tales? Graphic novels, but historical themes and funny. (The donner dinner party?!?!)
My kids love these so much, + 1 to Nathan Hale. And they are very well done. I feel like I’ve learned things from reading them.
My 9 yo who loves I Survived books also loves History Smashers and History’s Mysteries. That said if graphic novels get them reading, so be it…reading is reading in our house.
I LOVED a couple series of fictional journals when I was a kid – the girls’ series was “Dear America” and the boys’ series was “My Name is America.” Maybe C would enjoy. For the boys, I remember really liking the one about the transcontinental railroad worker. (I looked it up and its The Journal of Sean Sullivan: A Transcontinental Railroad Worker).
My kids also like the 13 Story (sometimes spelled Storey – they are from Australia) Tree House series. They are cute and silly. Not exactly a graphic novel but with lots of funny, very detailed pictures.
I’ve really liked the Everyday Reading blog for kid book recommendations. My kids are a little younger than C, but they (and I) have liked the “Scholastic Branches” series – I would classify them as easy chapter books with illustrations instead of graphic novels. We particularly like the Dragon Masters series by Tracey West and the Owl Diaries and Unicorn Diaries by Rebecca Elliott (G might like these too).
oooh thank you!
LOVE Jenny Odell’s work. I just started her new book. The vibe is very much ANTI productivity / time management / self-help.
I also have that parenting book on my TBR list.
We’re definitely on the same wavelength.
I find that movement fascinating even though I naturally am inclined to do what some would consider a lot (all relative, I guess!).
(I hope it encourages me to enjoy even more weekend naps on the couch w a book.)
My son likes the Bear Grylls Adventures series, too!
DST kicks my butt every time. I know there are various sides to the debate, but I hate any and all time changes. In November 2021 the time change threw my sleep off for months. This time has been okay in terms of sleep, but I feel like a zombie during the day. There is one province in Canada that doesn’t change clocks at all…maybe I should just move there?!
I grew up and Arizona. There is no time change there. MST all year long!
I cannot recommend enough the Hilo Graphic novel series by Judd Winick. My (and my kids’) absolute favorite. Also the Ben Hatke Zelda and Soace Girl and Mighty Jack series (and their crossovers). My son (9yo) is also not an enthusiastic reader of chapter books but he loves to listen to audiobooks and that is a great way to get used to plot and character development in longer novels. He has listened to every Rick Riordan series (start with Percy Jackson) multiple times. Right now we’re also listening to Lockwood & Co and those are great.
I cannot recommend enough the Hilo Graphic novel series by Judd Winick. My (and my kids’) absolute favorite. Also the Ben Hatke Zelda and Soace Girl and Mighty Jack series (and their crossovers). My son (9yo) is also not an enthusiastic reader of chapter books but he loves to listen to audiobooks and that is a great way to get used to plot and character development in longer novels. He has listened to every Rick Riordan series (start with Percy Jackson) multiple times. Right now we’re also listening to Lockwood & Co and those are great.
Cameron might like “That’s Deadly” too, which is a National Geographic book.
that sounds VERY up his alley . . .
C might enjoy the Everest and Island trilogies by Gordon Korman, and the Hatchet books by Gary Paulsen. And if he likes baseball, Dan Gutman has some kid-meets-historical-figures books that might be similar!
I’m really excited to read Advanced Parenting when it comes out, and for your interview with her. I find I don’t engage with parenting podcasts as much as I used (including BOBW, unfortunately) given my situation. So many topics aren’t relevant and sometimes are a little heartbreaking. In looking at the table of contents, it seems like the book will be a good resource. I really like that she seems to address things that will really support parents navigate the emotions and the burnout that can come if they lose sight of themselves as they deal with their children’s issues. There really are too few resources to help guide families in this situation.
totally understand. Look – she just launched an Advanced Parenting podcast – https://drkellyfradin.com/podcast/
Might be good to check out!