Is that a legal move?

Me: Your teacher said you never do any jiu-jitsu at school. Boy Detective: That’s not really true. There was this one time, on the playground, I tried to cross-choke a tree?

6 of the Best Children’s Books About Ninjas, Samurai, and Martial Arts

Some things are totally fun for make believe, but you’d never want them around in real life. Pirates, dinosaurs, Jedi battles, etc. Basically anything where you get in fights or get eaten. Ninjas fall into this category. Pretend ninjas, though, are just silently cool and acrobatic. Despite the common childhood fascination with pretend ninjas, I always had trouble finding as… Read more »

6 Winning Children’s Picture Books About Sports

What I know about sports could fit on an index card, but I know a good children’s book. So here are some of our favorite children’s picture books about sports, from a mom who loves books and a kid who loved books AND sports. Boy Detective enjoyed these in his preschool and early elementary years, and I also genuinely liked… Read more »

Does everything have a rhyme?

Boy Detective: Does everything rhyme? Me: Are you asking whether every word has something that rhymes with it? Boy Detective: Yes. Me: I don’t know. I would imagine there could be a few words that don’t have a rhyme, but not many. C-Man: I bet it’s hard to rhyme Quetzalcoatl. Me: I was excluding names and scientific terms from that… Read more »

16 of our Favorite Silly Children’s Picture Books

Silly is one of our family’s favorite things. Boy Detective loves to laugh, and it doesn’t take much to get him giggling. I’m more of a hard sell. To make me laugh, you have to bring funny AND clever. The following books were perfect for both of us, and many got at least a chuckle from C-Man as well. (Disclosure:… Read more »

I feel VERY reassured, thanks!

Boy Detective: If I had to go without pizza, or go without you, I would probably go without pizza so I could be with you. Me: “Probably.” But you haven’t quite decided yet. Boy Detective: Here’s the more reassuring thing! That situation will probably never happen.

My 2015 Happiness Project: Month The First

(Just a heads up that my book posts use affiliate links, but check your local library too!) In 2009, Gretchen Rubin published The Happiness Project, detailing her year-long experiments in being happier. I didn’t hear of it until November 2013, when my friend Shannon wrote about it at her blog Salt Lick Lessons. And then it took me more than… Read more »

4 Children’s Picture Books About Fairies That Adults Can Love Too

Fairies are possibly the most under-represented imaginary population in quality children’s picture books. My son has always loved fairies, and it’s taken extensive digging in the Austin Public Library catalog to create even this short list. And forget about finding any diversity, so far. But here are the children’s books about fairies that have warmed my heart, through their charm… Read more »

Holiday Gift Ideas for Geeks

I started to write this as a personal wishlist post… and then I realized that just about everything I want might be great for lots of other geek girls – and guys as well! So we’ll call it a gift guide, and clearly I am helping with your holiday shopping for the geeky people in your life. Even if that… Read more »