I’ve shared about how my daughter became a reader, and one thing that really helped us along the way was having some kind of structure—and a visual reminder—of her progress. She’s super visual and loves checking things off, so I made a simple reading tracker bundle we could print and stick on her wall or…
Clean Books for Tweens: A Journey from Comics to Chapter Books
If you’re looking for clean books for tweens that are actually engaging, especially for visual learners, I get it. My daughter used to feel overwhelmed by long chapter books. She’d look at a thick novel and instantly say, “Too many words!” So we stuck with comic books and graphic novels for a while—and honestly, that…
Raising A Reader: My Guide To Choosing Clean, Age-Appropriate Books
My daughter just turned 13, and I’m thrilled that she’s developed a love for reading. She’s moved from illustrated books to actual novels, and I’m all for it—except when it comes to some of the books trending on social media. With #BookTok influencing teen reading habits, I have to be extra careful about what she…
The Mother’s Day Gift That Broke Me (In the Best Way)
Parenting a teenager is wild. One minute you’re the center of their world, the next you’re the ancient enemy from the “1900s” who doesn’t get it. That’s pretty much where my daughter Blake and I have been lately — not always on the same page, sometimes not even in the same book. So when she…
Our Weekend Getaway: How We Finally Used Our avantstay Travel Credits After Two Years
If you’ve ever had unused travel points or Airbnb-style credits hanging over your head, you’ll relate to this. After two years of postponing, we finally used our AvantStay credit for a weekend vacation—and while it didn’t go as planned, it turned out to be a memorable experience. Redeeming Expired AvantStay Credits (Yes, It Was a…
Life Lately + Something New I Made
Hey. So it’s been a minute. Not gonna sugarcoat it—the past year was a lot. Lost a job. Finally got married (yes, it took forever—more on that in another post). Family members getting sick. Life just kept throwing things, and honestly, I was just trying to keep up. The blog sat quiet, but I’ve missed…
