February books

Sorry I didn’t hop on here yesterday. I woke up and decided that this was going to win for how I wanted to spend my little morning time:

By the time I was done, I didn’t feel like blogging and all of that. It’s nice to mix up the routine sometimes. 🙂

It’s a new month again. February seemed to fly by at least 25 times faster than January for me. I am not even really going to bother doing any kind of true “recap” because I kind of sucked it up big time in terms of meeting my “goals” and all that jazz.

The reason? I’m not entirely sure, but I guess a combination of just other stuff getting in the way and the things on my list not feeling like a high enough priority. Perhaps this means the goals I set weren’t that great? I don’t know. Whatever- I don’t really care. I have said before: I enjoy planning, checking off lists, etc. but I don’t intend for it to rule my life, either. If it doesn’t work sometimes, it doesn’t work! It’s okay. 🙂

(*We were out of town for two full weekends for Asher’s swim meets, and I think this contributed to both the month feeling like it flew by, and also lack of getting other stuff done!)

Reading goal!

But, I did meet my reading goal!!! My goal was to read at least 3 books in February.

It was a pretty solid month for me, reading wise. In fact, I think it might be the BEST reading month I have had in a long time. I didn’t track my books read last year in as detailed a fashion as I am now (I am now listing them on my habit tracker and filling in a dot for each day I read that book. It is kind of fun to have a visual to see how long it takes me.)

I’ll go down the list….

Winterfrost- The book I am reading with the boys. Started in January, and apparently we only read it once in February! It is a really cute book and we all love it, but I guess we just didn’t really read together much this month. 😦 We need to FINISH IT now though, because it is definitely a very “winter” themed book and we are creeping right into spring soon….

A Mother for All Seasons- The memoir by Michael Phelps’ mom. I mentioned this before. I’d probably give it a 3/5. Interesting but not earth shattering or anything. I enjoyed it and it was a pretty quick read.

The Self-Driven Child- I was skeptical at first, but I ended up thinking this book was GREAT! I think I’d give it a 5/5! It really had some amazing, thought provoking ideas about raising kids to become independent, self-sufficient, responsible for their own lives and HAPPY eventually. Much of it involves actually loosening the reins a bit as parents and learning to let the kids start navigating the path of life on their own. He advocates for parents acting more as “consultants” in their kids’ lives, not dictators or “bosses”. You’re there to guide, suggest, help them figure things out- but not to “mandate” or control them in every situation.

Some of the concepts were slightly “out of the box” perhaps at first, but as I listened more and thought about them, I could feel my perspective widening. I would recommend this book.

A favorite quote re: trying to help your kids find their passion in life: “If you see a spark in your kids, pour gasoline on it.”

Germ Hunter- Louis Pasteur- I started reading this quick little book with Ethan about science genius Louis Pastuer. Very fitting as the whole covid vaccine thing has been unfolding. Not done yet though and haven’t read it in this past week. It amazes me how smart some people in this world are (and have been in the past!). Crazy what people can figure out.

The Boys in the Boat- This was my book club choice for the month. I loved it! It’s the story of the University of Washington rowing crew that won the gold medal in the 1936 Berlin Olympics (Hitler’s time). The book was fascinating and beautifully written. It specifically followed the stories of a couple of the young men that came from very meager and challenging upbringings- boys that had unbelievable grit and an incredible will and drive to succeed in life despite MANY adversities. I just loved all of it. I didn’t know much about rowing, but I also found that surprisingly interesting, too. This book is similar to the style of Unbroken, which I also loved. 5/5!

A Gentleman in Moscow- current read! More to come but so far it is absolutely delightful!!!!

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for Facetime technology so Ethan could practice his school presentation for my parents over the phone yesterday!