• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Smart Domestic

True Stories of Semi-Competent Adults

  • Features
  • Real Talk
  • Decisions
  • Manifesto
  • About

Archives for June 2016

7 tips for moving with toddlers

June 27, 2016 by Suzanne 7 Comments

Let’s all ignore this study: “Moving can be hazardous to your health and wellbeing.”

We’ve noticed a lot of our friends have had to move from one home to another with toddlers (or babies, or older kids). Sometimes they’re moving back to their hometowns (as I did when my kiddo was about 7 months old); sometimes they’re taking better (or different) jobs that require a change in location. A lot of families move from apartments, condos or “starter homes” into bigger homes, or into better school districts, or to a neighborhood that’s more family friendly. (We realize sometimes you have to move the other way, into something smaller or cheaper, for reasons of job change, divorce or other life changes.)

Since I moved with a baby, our transition was fairly easy. We didn’t have to deal with discussions about new neighborhoods or toddler resistances to changes in routine.

So I asked a panel of experts (i.e. my sister and a friend from college) for tips to help other parents as they move. Our experts are married, working moms, each with a toddler. (For bonus similarity points: They’re both named Stephanie.) One moved within a city to a different house, another moved to a new city (in the same state) for work.

If you’ve got a move coming up, they’ve offered up some tips on how to help kids adjust and how to make the logistics easier in the midst of chaos.

TIPS FOR MOVING WITH KIDS

  1. Talk early and often with your kid(s).
    “We talked about the moving process and emphasized that everything/everyone/every pet would still be together at the new house. Rinse and repeat.”
  2. Introduce new parks, neighborhood, or home features with excitement.
    “We started playing at ‘our new park’ that’s only a couple blocks from our new house, driving by the house and frequenting things that were near the new neighborhood. We showed Thomas pictures we took of the inside of the house and especially his room. We emphasized cool features of our new house that we didn’t have before (‘You’re going to love swimming in your new pool!’).”
  3. Bribe your kid.
    “Give a special “new house” toy.”
  4. Pack strategically.
    “We were able to pack up a lot of the house without her realizing there was a huge difference (a 2-year-old doesn’t notice if you have empty kitchen cabinets and are eating on paper plates).”
  5. Hire movers!
    “BEST DECISION EVER!  It gets it done quickly and is least disruptive.”
  6. Set up the kid’s room first.
    “The day the movers came to the new house, we made sure to get her room set up first so it felt familiar.”
  7. Establish routines in the new neighborhood.
    “Once we moved in, we made sure to establish new fun routines in our new house and neighborhood. Other than missing seeing deer in our old backyard, the transition overall went pretty smooth.”

Thanks for sharing your tips, Stephanies! Readers: Got any other tips for parents who are dealing with a move? 

 

Filed Under: Miscellany Tagged With: moving, parenting, toddlers

Real talk: How will you celebrate Father’s Day?

June 17, 2016 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

father's day

Since we talked about Mother’s Day a few weeks ago, we figured it ‘s only fair to ask about the masculine equivalent coming up this weekend. As with any family-related holiday, we know there’s a whole bunch of baggage that people have around the topic of fathers and fatherhood, but we’re opting to look for the bright spots. Couldn’t we all use a little distraction this week, anyway? It’s been a heavy news cycle lately.

We asked for some real talk about Father’s Day, and here’s what our friends said to the question, “What are you doing for you dad and/or partner for father’s day?” 

  • Family gathering
  • My husband gets a card and small gift from the kids. I’ll also tackle bedtime duties, which is usually his domain, to give him some evening relaxing time.
  • My dad is not big on holidays, but I will call him because he appreciates my time more than he’d appreciate a set of grill utensils. Are grill utensils a thing dads get?*
  • Not sure yet**
  • Some cool gifts (Return of the Living Dead Limited Edition soundtrack on vinyl, Night of the Creeps sweatshirt and Halloween III baseball T-shirt from Fright Rags) and dinner out
  • Fishing and cook out
  • Taking my dad to the local airport diner (his favorite)
  • No clue.**  That’s bad, isn’t it? I had an idea a while back, and even mentioned it to our daughter. But I think both she and I forgot. We’re talented that way.
  • Sending a card.
  • Oh, crap! Can’t someone else handle that?**
  • Thinking great thoughts and smiling at how he enjoyed the simple things in life.***

* Yes. You can give grill utensils. My dad is not usually a stereotype of fatherhood, but I gave him some for a recent holiday because he was using teeny tiny tongs to grill, and I was worried he’d burn his hands off if he didn’t get some better equipment.

**  These “I don’t know yet” responses are fair answers, because we posed the question a few weeks ago! 

*** What a sweet answer! 

How are you celebrating Father’s Day? 

Filed Under: Real Talk Tagged With: celebrations, dads, father's day, fatherhood, fathers, parenting

Our favorite smart email newsletters

June 10, 2016 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

Smart emails

As an avid reader (and connoisseur of the best the internet has to offer), I manage my reading in a variety of ways, from Feedly (for daily blog reads) to Pocket (for saving interesting longform reads for downtime and weekends) to email newsletters.

I’m a big fan of email newsletters: They come directly to me, they feel more personal than blog posts (because it’s addressed TO ME), and they dive more deeply than social media posts (because there’s no character limit or “read more” in an email).  I even started my own monthly version, because I think the medium is so compelling.

Today, I’m sharing my favorites. They’re the ones that have made it to my primary inbox after weeks and months of reading, because they’re compelling, unique, and offer perspectives I can’t find anywhere else.

NextDraft

Why I love it: A daily (weekdays only) email with links to some of the day’s biggest stories, with a heavy emphasis on politics, technology, and culture. I particularly like the “bottom of the news” section, which features quirky stories. (Sidenote: I tried The Skimm, a similar daily round-up of news stories, but I never adjusted to the tone of it. Some people LOVE IT, so I’m mentioning it in case you want to try a couple of these.)

Ann Friedman Weekly

Why I love it: Every Friday, freelance writer Ann Friedman shares links to her own work, as well as a CRAZY amount of other links. These stories cover pop culture, feminism, world events, and essays. (She also does a hand-drawn pie chart if you are a paying subscriber. I am!) I have no idea how she reads all these stories in any given week, and many of her readers spend their weekends working through her recommendations.

Lenny Letter

Why I love it: Interviews with smart women, personal essays from celebrities and everyday women, and occasional writing from actress/writer/director Lena Dunham. Comes twice a week, but I never feel like it’s too often.

Austin Kleon’s Weekly Email

Why I love it: A round-up of 10 interesting, artsy links from artist-writer Austin Kleon. Good for doses of visual art, creativity, writing, and occasionally music and pop culture.

Shout-outs to real-life people I know and like:

The Sleeper Hit

Why I love it: Writer Meryl Williams gives brief biweekly updates about her life (learning roller derby and exploring her current city of Portland, Oregon), while linking to her latest freelance and sharing her favorite reads.

Humdrum

Why I love it: Short essays from Christina Brandon. Compared to the other newsletters above, Brandon’s stands alone for its unique collection of themed observations and personal stories.

I Heart Words

Why I write it: Once a month, I pen a short advice piece (in response to anonymous questions) and share links to stories, podcasts, and recipes I’ve been thinking about. I’m interested in words, writing, compelling people-stories, living my best life, easy recipes, and bizarre animated gifs, so the newsletter is a round-up of those things. Essentially, it’s the stuff I want to share and discuss with my friends, but I don’t want to bombard them with single-link emails all month.

Is there anything else I should subscribe to? Are you on the email newsletter bandwagon? 

Filed Under: Miscellany Tagged With: email, Internet finds, newsletters, reading, what to read

Ambition made manifest in ways we don’t approve of

June 7, 2016 by Suzanne 1 Comment

Hillary Clinton on ambition

I’m sharing this quote (from a profile of Hillary Clinton) for a few reasons:

  • The profile itself includes interesting insights on womanhood, feminism, and politics.
  • Her thoughts on ambition strike me as particularly resonant. (I’ve been nervous about ambition ever since I was stage manager for a 6th grade play, and the teacher pulled me and a close friend aside to tell us that our peers thought we were a little too power-hungry.) Here’s what HRC said on the topic of ambition:

She thinks women’s ambition is regarded as dangerous, she posited that it was about “a fear that ambition will crowd out everything else — relationships, marriage, children, family, homemaking, all the other parts [of life] that are important to me and important to most women I know.”

  • Leslie and I started The Smart Domestic to share perspectives on how to make our adult lives better, more interesting, and more honest. Hillary has led a life full of ambition and opinion, and she’s had to experience her own personal turmoil in very public ways. Whether you #feelthebern or, we shudder to say, you want to make America great again, you have to admit Hillary’s got some bona fide cred as a politician, feminist, and public figure. Reading about her (especially in a piece written by author Rebecca Traister) adds dimension to how we talk about power and politics.

All this to say #sorrynotsorry for posting a “politically sourced” quote. But tell us: Does the word ambition carry any baggage for you? Or are you happy to be an ambitious woman?

Filed Under: Quotes Tagged With: ambition, hillary clinton, politics, quotes, womanhood

In real life: Best/worst of summer

June 3, 2016 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

photo-1452289765185-5df11aa2a706 I’m a *little* afraid of summer this year, because I’m facing the season in my third trimester of pregnancy. Let me be graphic for a second: I’ve got a human space heater on my stomach, and underbelly sweat is real, y’all.

On Memorial Day, I filled ice cube trays with water and checked the freezer impatiently for two hours. Then I told my husband we should plan on buying bags of ice frequently, because otherwise I won’t survive until August. 

Even though summer doesn’t start on the calendar until June 20, here in the Midwest, we’ve got humid weather, baby pools in the yard, and flip-flop sightings in my office. So Leslie and I asked our friends for their best/worst of summer. Here’s what they said:

BEST: 

  • Sunshine and green
  • All the kids playing outside after dinner each night
  • BBQs and drinking outdoors
  • Those hot summer nights
  • Dresses! Sandals! The pool! Grilling!
  • Family and cook outs
  • Warm sunshine, flowers, fresh tomatoes and berries
  • Enjoying the heat, swimming and watching the girl play with abandon
  • Windows open in your house or car and the amazing breezes that come through
  • Pooooooooollllllllllsssssssssss
  • A summer breeze and a glass of wine with friends on the porch talking and laughing about our crazy lives

WORST: 

  • Anything over 85 degrees
  • I have to work, so we don’t really get “summer break.”
  • It’s too short! Summer is my jam.
  • Getting sweaty during the bike/walk to work
  • Finding time to do all the fun things that take place.
  • Mosquitoes
  • When it’s over
  • Telling the girl it’s time to come in for the night, and halting that whole “playing with abandon” thing
  • Sunburns when you’re pasty and can’t do sunlight… even with sunscreen
  • Sticky pits
  • It doesn’t last.

Suzanne says: 

BEST: Ice cream, popsicles, sorbet, fruity drinks…

WORST: Mosquito bites (and now Zika fears)

photo-1463608841595-a96243903121

Happy summer! What do you love and hate about the season? 

Filed Under: Real Talk Tagged With: hot, summer

Primary Sidebar

Say hello!

  • Email
  • Facebook

Recent Posts

  • Three great podcasts for kids
  • Travel tips for breastfeeding moms
  • How to make an emergency kit
  • Recommendation: Take a quick trip
  • How to raise readers

Recent Comments

  • Suzanne on The problem with online mommy-groups
  • Ayelet on The problem with online mommy-groups
  • John on Decisions: I’m leaving hipster paradise for Midwest familiarity

Archives

  • April 2018
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016

Categories

  • Decisions
  • Features
  • Manifesto
  • Miscellany
  • Parenting
  • Quotes
  • Real Talk
  • Shortcuts

Copyright © 2021 · Leslie and Suzanne