We’re back from Summer Blog Break and recapping not only our summer to-dos but our resolution goals as well. May/June may have felt like the longest month ever, but we just got our Back-to-School shopping lists and the last four weeks of vacation are gonna slide by ridiculously fast. Let’s call this our Q2 review.
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Child(ish) Review: Toy Story 5
I’ll be honest, I never really got into the Toy Story franchise. I know Woody, Buzz, and Jessie are beloved icons, but I just wasn’t into sitting down and watching the movies when they came out, and even now as a parent. So when Patti told me Toy Story 5 was coming out and I casually mentioned that I was indifferent, the gasp she let out was audible. For reference, the first Toy Story came out when we were 10.
But then the Toy Story 5 trailer dropped, Lilypad appeared on screen, and suddenly I was fully invested. In this installment, Bonnie is introduced to a new high‑tech tablet which completely disrupts the balance of playtime, forcing Jessie, Bullseye, Buzz, Woody and the rest of the gang to confront what it means to matter to a child in a digital age.
Toy Story 5 is essentially a child‑development case study wrapped in a Pixar movie. The film directly tackles themes that map onto core developmental domains: social-emotional growth, imaginative play, peer relationships, technology use, and the psychological experience of being “enough.”
Continue readingSummer To-Do List: 2026
Another school year is done! We have two months to exhale.
If you are anything like us, you’re probably also thinking way far ahead to the next school year, trying to use the season to make sure your kid moves forward, not back.
We gotta have fun, stay active but also rested, make memories, do the summer homework; it’s a tall order. Hopefully, we can do a little bit of everything.
Mary’s List
We’ve crammed the first half of summer. My son will be busy all June with summer camp, swim team, and Taekwondo. The girls are doing swim team this year too, so they’re not just glued to my side like last summer. Fun update for the season: I’m officially on the committee at our neighborhood swim and tennis club, handling social media and membership. It sounds like a lot, but honestly, I’m having a great time with it.
We’re also planning to foster another dog and take a beach trip soon. With all of this layered together, the schedule is basically a jigsaw puzzle. Goal: Don’t drown.
It has been almost six months since I started taking my health and physical well‑being seriously, and I am proud to share that I have lost 10 pounds. I can consistently lift five pounds heavier than before, my average step count keeps rising, and I am down a size. I am proud of what I have accomplished so far and look forward to next month’s progress. Goal: Stay on the Path.
One thing I really do love about summer is getting extra time with the kids. We can dive into projects, spend long afternoons at the pool, explore new places, and squeeze in some science experiments. On our current list: finishing a birdhouse, building a bug motel, starting our summer learning workbooks, watching movies at the theater, and making rock candy. Goal: Do Stuff Together.
All this being said, I definitely have one too many projects on my plate. As per our 2026 Bingo card, I still have Lego sets that need building and a TBR stack I’ve barely made a dent in. My goal this summer is to use the calm, nighttime hours to chip away at them instead of phone‑scrolling or getting sucked into another K‑Drama on Netflix. Goal: Finish It.
Patti’s List
When I was in elementary school, I had such big summer plans that rarely came to fruition. I would take out really thick poetry books from the library and never read them. I would buy new journals and stop writing after 2 weeks. I had no camps, no play dates, just a trip to see family here and there.
The summer game has changed since then, and what our kids do in the summer matters.
Summer Curriculum
On the socials during New Year, a lot of influencers talked about a “personal curriculum”, subject areas that they wanted to take a concerted effort toward learning. This could be learning more about art, or reading a classic book, or joining a hobby group.
This is the first summer we aren’t going on a big vacation. This is also the first summer where I’m not working. Last year, we stayed busy but there were a lot of things that fell by the wayside: reading consistently, tracking summer slide, any other downtime besides couch time.
So we’ve added to our Dopamine Kids dream list and with our Skylight Calendar, we’re taking a more structured approach to fill in the days and figure out our own summer curriculum.
The quick list:
- Take a walk with the dog after dinner
- Replace snacks with whole foods
- Make gaming more social, not mindless
- Start composting
- Learn how to crochet
- Redecorate their rooms
- Learn to Art Journal
- Our school’s Summer Reading program
- Do pushups and sprints everyday
It impressed me that the girls wanted to improve upon their end-of-year test scores, try new things, and get stronger. I’m also working on my personal curriculum as well: creating a regular gym routine, burning through my TBR list, and finding other little projects and recipes to keep the summer fun. Goal: To have something cool to write about when teacher’s assign the “How I spent my summer vacation” assignment.
Girl Scout Camp
This is the first summer we’re doing an official Girl Scout camp. It’s an evening camp, so the girls get together from 5-9pm; doing all the fun scout projects without the blazing sun. We have our second Camporee weekend at the end of the summer and between the two, I think they are going to be officially ready for sleepaway camp in 2027. Goal: Learn independence, build sisterhood, and clock those hours outside.
Mapping and Blocking
Going along with our summer curriculum, part of what (hopefully) makes it work is the structure of the day. I 100% admit that this seems overboard, but I’ve been goal and time blocking in my new project planner for the last few weeks and it’s been really helpful.
I’ve input our daily habits (reading blocks, workbook time, family walks) as repeated events in our daily Google calendar. That syncs to our Skylight so the girls know what the whole day looks like, in addition to camp, tennis practices, special events, and mealtimes. They also have the chore chart and a list of analog things they can do if they are actually bored. Goal: To see what happens when you follow through with a goal.
Sidequest
There are blocks of days in the calendar where the girls have nothing planned. Last year, I defaulted them to the grandparents. This year, I spy an opportunity for an all-girl sidequest: a day trip or excursion to break up the week in/week out. Does this sound exhausting? Yes. But I would be using my unemployed time to do something different now that the girls aren’t such a handful. Goal: Does this count as whimsymaxxing?
Annual Summer Blog break starts now!
Have a great end of the school year, and we’ll be back in July.
~Mary and Patti
Our Wheel Throwing Playdate Review
It’s the last week of the school year and the last posts before our annual summer blog break. So we’re keeping it fun with a playdate review.
With the kids getting older, there isn’t much that they haven’t tried. So, play dates have been harder to brainstorm and plan. One of the first things I wanted to do when we came up with this blog series is wheel pottery. I had never done it before, and the girls have done kids clay sculpting classes many times. Now, all three kids are finally old enough to take it on.
Most pottery wheel studios have a minimum age for their beginner wheel classes, or they want you to buy several sessions or weekly course. In my cursory Google search, I found Mudfire, an open community pottery studio built around creativity, inclusivity, and shared space. They offer single Wheel 101 and 102 classes, capped at 12 people with a minimum age of 6 years old. They also have kids summer camps and special kids-only pottery wheel classes starting in June.
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Coffee Chat: Kids Sports and the Long Game
Yes, we’ve been writing more and more about youth sports. But is it really that big of a surprise, since our kids are now 2-3 years into their teams and activities?
Just like OT, everything is foundational. What they are learning now is going to shape their social skills and identity 5, 10, 20+ years down the road.
Our kids’ sports experiences are vastly different, and they are uncovering a lot of skills and lessons for us parents to dive into. We’re also seeing a lot of bad habits thanks to sports system that’s getting harder to navigate.
Therein lies the conundrum: How long will our kids be on this path before it starts turning into a tearful, stressful, time-sucking money pit? Can we walk the line, or are we already in the vicious cycle?
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Child(ish) Advice 