For all of our seven years of parenting, I've been trying to create traditions and rituals for Big Girl (and then Mr. Middle, and now Baby B!). I grew up with many family rituals and traditions that I looked forward to throughout each year, and wanted my own children to have warm, fuzzy, repetitive memories like that, as well. I didn't really know why it was so important to me; I just knew that it was.

So our gifts aren’t wrapped, our cards aren’t mailed, our house is a wreck and the kitchen is full of dishes…but we have cranberry playdough to play with, and we are mostly on our way to being healthy again. And that’s enough. More than enough, really.

There are two items I keep handy just about all of the time. I really love to have them in seasonal colors, just because I find that to be a fun and easy way to immerse young children in whatever season or holiday we are currently living. Straws and pompoms are the big two, in my book. We use them for a hundred million things.

These books bring me an IMMENSE amount of joy…I get more excited about the day we get the Christmas books out than I do about the day we get the tree. I want that joy for you, too! If you’re looking to add to your holiday collection (we do a book for each child every year…and some extras along the way, haha), here are some of my best recommendations:

I’m trying super hard to do just the things that have become traditions for our family, and not do a darn thing extra unless we all genuinely want to. When it comes right down to it, we just want more time connected as a family. That’s what makes us all happiest, and that’s what our kids - and yours - will remember. So feel free to skim all those other lists out there - I do it all the time! There are some awesome, fun ideas out there! But then, eliminate all the items you’ve added to your list that don’t bring your family joy.

Holidays are awesome and fun and sparkly and…stressful. They can be extra stressful when you’re navigating them with young children (or even older children!). There are so many expectations (yours, theirs, other peoples’), so many perfect-looking family activities on social media…we end up with this mental (or actual) list of things we want to do or get done or buy or bake (or all of the above), and we feel the pressure to make it all happen and to make it all magical and memorable.

Once upon a time I was not a mother. I was a young, newly-married kindergarten teacher who couldn’t wait to have babies. I had OPINIONS and OPTIMISM and an awful lot of confidence in my future parenting abilities.

There is a terrible and damaging mismatch between what developing brains *should* be doing and what we are *expecting* them to do. There is a concept in Early Childhood Education called developmental appropriateness. We talk about developmentally appropriate practice constantly - you’ll find it in most teacher classes and most textbooks on teaching, you’ll hear it at conferences…it is a big-time buzzword. The problem is, Early Childhood Education in America is anything BUT developmentally appropriate.

I adore acorn play. It’s such a great way to stay connected to nature and immerse yourself in the season. “Loose parts play” (this is a real thing) is valuable for so many reasons.The broadest of these is that children are able to explore freely and creatively, which has so many cognitive benefits. Acorns are the perfect loose parts material!