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Story Time with Grandma
Hiya! There’s nothing like watching kids collect friends at a playground. It’s like a video game where your kid picks up new followers as if they were coins dropped on the ground.
Parents, on the other hand, often have a tough time making new friends as an adult. Adults hit their thirties, have kids, and decide they've met everyone who's going to be at their funeral ☠️
Just know that it’s definitely the other parents that are lame. You’ve still got it!
Activity of the week
It’s summer and many kids will be visiting family who are a bit harder to visit during the school year. Will it be more relaxing to visit family? That’s for you to discuss with your therapist.
Anyway, now is the perfect time to record grandma or grandpa reading your kid’s favorite books so they can listen to them read it throughout the year. It may not be as good as a free babysitter, but maybe it’ll score you a 5-10 minute breather during wind down time before nap.
What you’ll need:
A voice recorder app. If you have an Android phone, you can use the Voice Recorder app that’s already pre-installed. If you have an iPhone, you can use the Voice Memos app that’s also pre-installed.
2 or 3 of your kid’s favorite bedtime books.
A quiet room for their grandma, grandpa, aunt, or uncle to record.
[Optional] A pair of headphones that have a microphone built in.
Step 1: Navigate to your voice recorder app of choice and test out the recording feature to ensure the audio quality is sufficient. This is where a good pair of mic-enabled headphones can make a big difference (if you have them).
Step 2: Coordinate with your family member or friend to decide which books they’ll be reading and encourage them to read the book(s) out loud a few times before recording.
Step 3: Once your family member or friend is ready, find a quiet room to record the audio and hit record.
Step 4: Save the recording and listen to the file. Decide if you’d like to keep it or delete it and re-record.
Step 5: Repeat steps 1-4 if you have more than one book you’d like to save.
Alternatively, if you’re not visiting family or friends in the near future and still want them to record a reading, simply have them send you a voice message (via SMS or WhatsApp) of their recording.
That’s it! Maybe this will be a gateway activity into recording a podcast with your parents. Or maybe you’ll even record a podcast discussing something your dad wrote, but never told you about.
The possibilities are endless now that you’ve recorded this audiobook. Hopefully Fisher Price might even release that podcast play set that was inspired by SNL.
Not for tots
Here is this week’s not for tots segment where we share some internet finds/treats/toys for the adults in the room.
Are you an “old”? Matinee Social Club throws dance parties around the US for people 30 years old or older. The best part? All parties end by 10pm.
There’s a new podcast from Alexis Ohanian (cofounder of Reddit) asking other dad’s how they balance being a dad with a successful career.
Need some art therapy? Paint in the style of Jackson Pollack.
Here’s a visual guide of when to visit each US National Park.
What’s your name at Starbucks?
Turn your Spotify top tracks list into a receipt. Frame it and make a fantastic stocking stuffer during the holidays 🎄 (Also, please don’t judge my Spotify receipt. You can tell I have kids and that I haven’t been back to Coachella since my youth.)
Kidult of the week
Forty-six year old Brazilian American swimmer Gabrielle Rose wanted to make it back to the Olympics. When did she last compete in the Olympics, you may ask? In 2000.
She decided to throw herself back into Olympic contention after she set a personal-best time in a breaststroke masters race 14 months ago. And while swimming in the Olympic trials in Indianapolis this last week, she posted personal best times and won two preliminary heats racing against swimmers half her age.
Unfortunately, Rose did not qualify given the stiff competition since generally only the two top swimmers in each of 28 swimming disciplines make Team USA. In fact, two world records were broken as well as one American record during the qualifiers.
Ultimately, qualifying for the Olympics wasn’t the primary goal for Rose. She wanted to see how far she could take herself physically and mentally regardless of her age and encourage other women to do the same. After her last heat, she told interviewers that she “want[s] women in particular to not be afraid to be strong, lift weights, take care of themselves, and just know that they can have a lot more in the older chapters of their lives.”
Stat of the week
Maybe the kids are going to be alright. Despite challenges, Millennials and Gen-Z have seen significant wage increases compared to previous generations.
Thinking about tomorrow, today
According to a Washington Post report, homeschooling has been on a steep growth trajectory over the last 7 years. Even with the recent rise in homeschooling, however, homeschooling in general represents a single-digit percentage of students nationally.
That may change as more states, like Florida, and new private sector companies, like Odyssey, build the policies and infrastructure necessary to enable caregivers to pursue homeschooling as a more viable and preferred option over traditional public schools.
Parenting-ish Headlines
Early results from North Carolina and New York show that genome sequencing is catching conditions not found through traditional newborn screening. (Washington Post)
English-speaking teens are spreading their anxiety abroad. (The Atlantic)
Contraception is free by law, but a quarter of women are paying unnecessarily for contraceptives. (New York Times)
“As my life grows and changes, my wish for the next 25 years is that this [Sunday dinner] tradition remains a constant.” A DC high schooler wins national Doodle for Google competition with her ode to the Sunday family dinner. (ABC)
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