A case for doing THE MOST
(The one where I take a yearly tradition and crank it up to eleven)
My mothering style is less Gwyneth Paltrow (cool, unaffected) and more Reese Witherspoon as Tracy Flick (nostrils flaring with the effort). I don’t even try to hide how hard I’m working. There’s really no point. And why would I want to make it seem like everything I do for them is easy? I want them to see all the blood, sweat, and tears I put into caring for them. Not because I want them to feel bad. Because I want them to know that it isn’t easy balancing parenthood, a full-time job, a side hustle I love, etc. The effort is because I love them.
If you’ve been around here for a bit, you might remember a post from last year about the Bonne Maman jam advent calendar. This year, in the words of Spinal Tap, I told the kids these amps go up to eleven.
Instead of simply tasting them every day and assigning a score between 1-10, every Friday, we retried the jams of the week (on Trader Joe’s mini croissants), and J and W each decided which one was their favorite.
Then, on Boxing Day, we had Jam Thunderdome.
Four jams enter.
Only one leaves.
We split two croissants and slathered them with a generous smear of each jam.
Interestingly, there was only one jam that was their shared favorite of one of the weeks. This year, J favored jams with caramel, and W liked jams with wild blueberry.
So, the next time you want to start a new tradition (big, small, weird) go for it, and don’t be afraid to dial it up.
What are some traditions in your family that are a bit much? I’d like to hear.
What I’m Reading
I read Marisa Kashino’s Best Offer Wins in one afternoon. It’s a domestic suspense novel about a millennial woman who becomes unhinged trying to win her dream home in the Washington, DC metro area. This book reminded me a lot of Yellowface in that you CANNOT BELIEVE the choices the protagonist makes (and her rationalizations) but also cannot put it down. This debut announces an exciting new voice in the thriller space.
What I’m Cooking
I made this olive oil baked salmon for Christmas dinner, and it turned out beautifully tender. Can’t recommend it enough.
This sounds like my ideal spreadsheet/activity. More jam! More ranking of jams! More visual representations of rankings of jam! Also, I love how all-in you are, with parenting and with everything. xo
I respect the effort, Gina. And I fall into the “most” from time to time. Our elf put on the eras tour back in 2023. One night, she was on a cabin (made of cardboard) singing Folklore. Another night, she had a coven of elves holding glowing orbs and wearing green velvet capes. All ten eras were depicted. This year, the teens insisted the elf show up, but then barely acknowledged her, so one night, she slept on the porch in a sleeping bag and mentioned she no longer felt welcome. My oldest said our “elf” was so “extra,” while giving me the side eye.