Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Still so much laundry, folks. Still ALL the laundry. Although I did, at least, manage 3 loads and a whole bunch of errands yesterday!

Anyway. We had a whirlwind of a fall break in Idaho with my parents and siblings–my mother made her incredible homemade doughnuts on Saturday, we went to DI on Friday morning and took more than we bought (except that we took more from my parents’ house, and what we bought came home with us), and we watched a movie with my parents before having dinner at my brother’s house on Sunday. Good times! We desperately missed the littles–my great-nieces and great nephew–that moved at the end of the summer, but we still enjoyed our family time. Now it’s back to school for the kiddos, a stressful week of work for my hubby, and all the things to do at home for me. (Although to be fair, I do volunteer at the school on Wednesdays, and so I’ve done that today.)

Before we left, however, I did manage to finish reading Hope Wins: A Collection of Inspiring Stories for Young Readers, and it was lovely. ‘Stories’ is not the most accurate term, since they’re short-story-length memoirs or essays, but the fact that the experiences related are real makes them far more relatable–and impactful. And given the collection of contributing writers–Newbery winners, Rick Riordan Presents authors, authors of popular series, and graphic novelists–my guess is that most readers of Hope Wins will have read something by at least one of the authors sharing his/her personal experiences. And because those authors are sharing real struggles–the death of a family member, divorce, undiagnosed autism or mental illness, the difficulties of fitting in (especially when your racial, ethnic, or financial situation makes that near impossible), the seeming impossibility of dreams–their readers are (hopefully) going to feel seen in a way kids so often don’t. Bless Rose Brock for making this book happen.

And now, back to the laundry.