Made In Nap Time with Sandy Gillman

Another book that arrived for my little reading buddy this month was The Turtle Who Was Too Kind by Ankle Monkey Books.

As I've mentioned before, I've been making an effort to support some of the authors who regularly support me through their comments, encouragement, and engagement. It's been lovely discovering their books along the way.

This one tells the story of Fern the sea turtle, whose kindness leads her to take on more than she can handle. I really appreciated the message that while kindness towards others is important, it's also important to be kind to yourself.

It's one of those lessons that resonates just as much with parents as it does with children.

The bright, colourful illustrations are beautiful, and my son thoroughly enjoyed exploring them while we read together.

Have you ever read a children's book and found yourself learning something from it too?

Good morning! ☕️

I'm enjoying a peaceful coffee before I wake my son up for the day. I can hear him singing away through the baby monitor, which is usually a pretty good sign.

You know it's going to be a good morning when your toddler wakes up singing.

I've noticed a lot of pages quietly disappear lately.

Not deleted. Not abandoned forever. Just... absent.

Pages that used to interact every day suddenly stop posting on their own page, stop commenting, stop showing up.

It always makes me wonder about the person behind the page.

Did life get busy? Did their priorities change? Did they simply need a break?

We spend so much time talking about numbers on social media that it's easy to forget that behind every page is a real person trying to juggle work, family, responsibilities, hobbies, dreams, and everything else life throws at them.

So when someone disappears, I notice.

Not because I expect them to be online, but because for a little while they were part of my everyday routine.

I hope they're doing well, wherever life has taken them.

The latest thing my son is obsessed with is... car parks.

Not cars.

Not trucks.

Car parks.

Yesterday on the way to daycare he started pointing them out and asking for "more car parks!" and he's been doing it ever since.

I have absolutely no idea what the appeal is.

One thing I've learned as a parent is that children's interests make absolutely no sense half the time.

So now I'm curious...

What's the most random thing your child has become obsessed with?

After nearly 3 years out of the workforce… I may or may not be starting a new job next week.

It’s part-time, it works around daycare, it involves a car… and let’s just say it’s not exactly your standard “office job”.

I told myself I’d go back to work when the right thing came along, and apparently the universe took that very literally.

I’ll let you all know what it is when I start next week… I’ll just leave you guessing for now.

So for fun…

Any guesses what I’ll be doing? 😄

My son was very excited to get home from daycare today and discover some new books waiting for him.

Over the past month, I've been buying books from a few of my Facebook friends as a small way of returning the support they've shown me through their comments, encouragement, and engagement.

One of today's reads was Moosey Caboosey the Silly Scared Dog by Andrea Mackay Books.

It's a fun, rhyming story about a lovable dog who's scared of all sorts of things, with a lovely message that it's okay to have fears and that those fears don't define who you are.

Safe to say it received the toddler seal of approval!

Well, if I have to suffer through another winter, at least I have new Ugg Boots to help me through it 😀

One of those parenting milestones happened this week that I didn't even know was coming.

Even though our son has been walking for well over a year, we've always carried him to bed. It was just one of those little routines we never really thought about.

Then, without warning, he asked if he could walk to his room instead.

So now, every night, he walks himself down the hallway and into his bedroom. We still pick him up when he gets there and put him into bed, but somehow it feels different.

It's funny how the milestones that seem insignificant on paper can end up being the ones that catch you off guard.

One day you're carrying them everywhere, and the next they're taking another small step towards independence.