Our Muddy Kids Review

| Patti Webb

Technically, this isn’t a play date. I was so excited that I found a mud race that our kids could participate in. Unfortunately, it fell right on Mary’s 10th wedding anniversary. That’s fine, I’ll be a family activity review. Then the morning of the race, Z was sick with a fever. So the family outing became a Mom and Aeris day.

Muddy Kids is open to families and kids aged 5-17, so we were right at the minimum line. They also have a version called the Muddy Princess that is women only. Kids must have a parent to register, and a parent must race as well if their runner is under 16 years old.

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Summer To-Do List

| Patti Webb

On Pinterest and Insta, I’ve seen a lot of posts on summer to-do lists. You know, make s’mores, go to the beach, have a barbecue, etc. This is a far cry from my typical summer growing up, which was mostly sitting around while my parents worked or just being parked in front of the tv and out of the way. While summer was great because you didn’t have to go to school, it also meant being lonely and bored most of the time.

In June and July for a working parent, you have to figure out some sort of childcare. For a SAHP, you have to be cruise director all day for two solid months. Not to mention, fending off Summer Slide. I can see why parents really hate extended summer break because the school year has so much more workable structure.

Just like holidays, it really is up to us parents to make summer fun. So with that in mind, here are Mary’s and my summer to-do lists.

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Summer Slide

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

No more pencils, no more books...

For us in Georgia, it’s the last week of school. While our teachers are trying to get ahead of summer learning loss, only 48% of parents have heard of it. So what is it and should parents honestly worry about it?

Summer learning loss (aka summer slide or summer brain drain) is forgetting key information and/or academic skills previously mastered during the seasonal break. It’s most common in the US and Canada since we have lengthier summer recesses compared to other countries. So, while our kids soak up the sun, sleep in, and go on adventures, their education routine takes a back seat. Studies show that an average student loses 17-34% of their prior year’s academic gains over the summer. Kids who fall behind one summer are likely to widen that gap as more time goes on.

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Things We Loved: Summer 2024

| Patti Webb

And just like that, the school year is ending in a couple of weeks and quite honestly, I have not a clue where the time went. Next week, we switch gears to summer before our annual summer blog break.

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Child(ish) Reads: The Book of Mothers

| Patti Webb

The Book of Mothers by Carrie Mullins is pretty much the dissertation paper I’ve always wanted to write.

Millennial moms characteristically have done a lot of emotional work: reflecting back on their childhood trying to understand the context of how they were parented, and trying to figure out exactly what type of mom they want to be. A large percentage of our parenting is going to come from our own parents and experience, but TV, movies, books, and pop culture give us plenty of model moms to take note of.

So put on your AP Lit hat, and let’s get some close textual analysis.

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