Five on Friday--May 31
Hi friends! Welcome to the last day of school! (Well at least for us here in Jacksonville, I don’t know when everyone else finishes up for the summer). It’s been a scorching hot week here in the south east which has drop kicked us out of spring and into summer almost overnight. I don’t know about the rest of you, but having kids home full time all summer is fun, but also fairly exhausting and stressful for me. It’s a LOT of long, hot days to fill and while I love having more freedom and lazy time, my boys really do thrive on the structure of school. Summer is fun and summer can be hard. And I think it’s okay to say both. As I thought about summer I realized I needed a project for myself. Something I can work on that has nothing to do with packing snacks and washing beach towels for the twelfth time in a week. Hence this idea for a summer writing project popped into my head. Every Friday I’m simply going to share five things here on my blog. I’ll be thinking about them and working on this throughout the week and publish it each Friday. Five on Friday. I might share book recommendations (umm lets be honest, I guarantee you I will share book recommendations!), recipes, thoughts on the enneagram, the church, social media, faith, parenting, podcast episodes I loved, meal planning, what we’re doing to keep busy on these long hot days or whatever pops into my head. Tips, tricks, confessions of things I had planned that maybe didn’t go so great this summer…whatever I’m thinking about in a given week. I am a deadline-girl. If I have a date I’ve said I’m going to publish something, that accountability keeps me motivated, and I want to write more. So, I’m giving myself a weekly deadline. I hope some of the things I share are helpful to you, but more than anything I wanted to give myself permission to have a fun project always in the back of my mind as I reapply sunscreen and drive to the water park one more time. So, without further ado, here’s this first week’s edition of Five on Friday. Have a great first week of break, friends, and we’ll see you back here next weekend!
ONE
Summer and social media. Yup, I’m starting with something that has been weighing on my mind heavily lately. Here’s my confession. I love social media. But here’s my other confession. When I’m home with my kids, I often find myself bored and reaching for my phone to distract myself, while at the same time I’m having conversations with my kids about how we don’t need to turn on the TV every time we feel bored. I want them to learn to be creative, to find ways to fill their time without staring at a screen, which is why we don’t own any tablets or video games. But I have to be practicing what I preach. I’ve made a commitment to take social media off my phone for the summer, not give it up entirely, but not have it available as a distraction around the clock. I want to get in the habit of taking pictures for me, not because in the back of my head I want to share them with the world. I want to be so much more present and stop comparing myself and our summer with those of friends. I just know that for myself, I am so much more at peace with what we ARE doing when I can’t see what everyone else is doing. I am SO much more likely to reach for a book or engage in a project or game with my kids when I’m not constantly numbing myself with incessant scrolling. And mostly I want to set the example for my kids that we don’t need screens to be our main source of distraction from boredom. I’ve done this in the past and it’s never easy, we truly are addicted to reaching for our phones, but I also know it can be so valuable to have a season of detoxing from our addictions, and summer seems like the perfect time to step away and practice being present. I’ll keep you posted on how much I miss it ;)
TWO
One of the things people say to me ALL the time is “I wish I read more, I love seeing your posts, but I just don’t. I don’t have enough time. or I don’t know where to start. or I finish a book and I enjoy it, but then it’s months before I pick up another one.” I thought I’d start out the summer by sharing four simple things I’ve found that have made a WORLD of difference in helping me read more because I think summer is one of the absolute BEST times to read and SO many fun new releases appear this time of year. So, if you are wanting to read more or create a “reading habit” in yourself AND your kids this summer, try these 4 simple things and I PROMISE you will read more!
Set a goal. Reading is NOT a competition, but with a goal in mind it is so much more likely that I will pick up another book once I finish one. Maybe for you finishing one book a month would be a huge step—that’s a FANTASTIC goal, so maybe pick 3 books you want to read in June, July and August and keep them where you can see them. Maybe you already read one a month and want to try and up that to two. Awesome!! After awhile you’ll find a pace that feels good for you and that becomes your consistent goal.
Create a “summer reading stack.” Maybe this is a list on the library holds page and not an actual, physical stack of books, but have an idea of WHAT you want to read. Personally, I think summer is the perfect time to dive into some absolutely fantastic fiction and that’s almost exclusively what I read in these hot months. If you’ve ever tried to get a baby to sleep, you’ve probably heard the term “sleep begets sleep.” If you help your baby sleep, they will sleep more, whereas an overly tired baby actually sleeps worse. I am firmly convinced the same is true for reading. Reading begets more reading. Its all about the momentum. When I’m reading a book, I already know what the next two titles are that I’m going to read when I’m done—usually because I’ve got 2-3 books checked out from the library at any given time. This helps me keep that momentum going, I don’t have to fall out of the reading habit while I search for what my next title is going to be. If you need help finding a great book, every year on the blog I share my 5 favorite fiction and 5 favorite non-fiction I read that year, along with a brief summary of the book. You can find 2017’s list here or 2018’s list here. OR if you want new releases, my favorite book blogger/podcaster, Anne Bogel puts together an annual summer reading guide that is FANTASTIC and I try and read most of the titles on her list each year. You can get your copy here.
Take distracting apps off your phone. Every time I go through a social media fast or I remove Instagram from my phone my reading almost doubles because instead of reaching for my phone in the random 5 minutes I have while waiting for the pasta to boil, I’ll grab my book. It takes some re-training of my brain every time I try this, but after a few days I’m always pleasantly surprised at how much more I’m reading. And I’d much rather my kids see me reading a book than staring at a screen if I can help it.
This is something we are doing this summer and we’ve done in years past. We have 30 minutes of quiet reading time after lunch every day. My kids don’t nap any more, but for 30 minutes every day everyone has to be somewhere in the house with a book. My 7 year old can now read and has taken off this past month in terms of being willing to read books to himself, so I am SO excited about what he will read this summer—he’s ready to get lost in some bigger and more exciting books. My 4 year old actually can read, he taught himself about a year ago and now will sit down and read to himself or his stuffed animals, so he’s going to be required to read for 30 minutes a day too. If you have a non-reader we used audio books a TON (and still do). We put on a story on audible that everyone had to sit quietly and listen to while Mommy read her own book, (they could color while they listened if they needed something to do), or I also gave them a portable CD player with the read along books that come with CDs (we own some and got some from the library). They could operate it on their own and follow along in the book as the voice on the CD read aloud. The point is to create a designated time of day where everything stops and everyone simply reads. I don’t clean the kitchen or do chores, I sit with my book too. And even if that the only 30 minutes in a day you get of reading time that’s actually a lot and will add up quickly!
THREE
Do you have a picky eater that you wish was better about eating seafood? Or do you like seafood but aren’t quite sure how to cook it or what to do with it at home? This recipe was a game changer for me. I’ve always been a little funny about cooking fish—I don’t know why. I think maybe I always expected it to be hard? But umm it’s not. In fact it’s far easier than chicken in my opinion because it cooks so fast and it’s so versatile! When we first moved here to Florida I was amazed at what a THING tacos are here. I thought coming from LA I knew all there was to know about different kinds of tacos, but here, seafood tacos are king. Fresh shrimp, blackened fish, different types of slaws or salsas, creama sauces, avocado—so many possibilities that are all so delicious. Our favorite family-friendly restaurant here, Jimmy Hulas, has a huge assortment of tacos and my oldest tried a fish taco one night and LOVED it. So I saw an opportunity to try getting more fish into the kids at home. I did some experimenting and ended up combining a couple of recipes and landed at this awesome Fish Taco with a Mango-Slaw and a Lime Creama sauce. Charles and I love this meal, Aidan does too, and Asher’s not a huge fan but will eat fish on the side of a cheese quesadilla, which I consider a win for a 4 year old. It’s a recipe that comes together fast and is full of fresh, bright flavors that scream summer to me. Enjoy!
SARAH’S MANGO FISH TACOS WITH A LIME CREMA
For the lime crema:
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
zest from half a lime
For the mango slaw:
1 ripe mango, peeled, cored, and diced
2 cups shredded cabbage (green, red, or a combination)
2/3 cup shredded carrots
2/3 cup roughly-chopped fresh cilantro leaves, loosely-packed
1/2 cup thinly-sliced green onions
1 lime, juice of - (about 2 tablespoons)
For the fish marinade:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon red pepper powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Mild white fish like tilapia filets
For serving:
Corn tortillas
Avocado slices
In a small bowl, combine the vegetable oil, lime juice, cumin, paprika, coriander, red pepper powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Dip the fish into the bowl and turn the fish until it is evenly coated with the marinade. Place the fish onto a lined baking tray and let it marinate in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Mix up the mango slaw by combining the ingredients in a bowl and mixing. Refrigerate until serving time.
Mix up the lime crema by combining the ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate until serving time.
Bake the tilapia filets at 400 for 9 minutes or so (you’ll know it’s done when it flakes easily with a fork).
Warm the corn tortillas either on a griddle or in the microwave and serve with pieces of fish, a scoop of the mango slaw, a dollop of the lime crema and a slice of avocado.
FOUR
Anyone else struggle with regulating kids and screen time over the summer? I know I do. And I’ve done a terrible job in years past. The days get so long and hot and it is SO easy to simply say “here have a show.” And I don’t know about your kids but when mine know that if they ask enough I will probably say yes, they ask for shows All. Day. Long. So at the beginning of last summer I knew we had to try something different because the year before was a train wreck! We came up with a screen time system that worked SO well that we’re definitely implementing it again this year. It may not work for your family, but in case you need somewhere to start feel free to borrow any part of this! I thought through the day and asked myself when was the time of day I most needed them to be happily entertained watching a TV show, and the answer I came up with immediately was for a little bit in the morning so I can drink a cup of coffee before having to actually try and parent little people who wake up READY to go, and in the late afternoon when I’m trying to make dinner and wind down the day—it’s the most hot, I’m ready for daddy to be home, and I am OVER trying to be the one refereeing or entertaining or answering questions. So we came up with this routine and it worked SO well. I told them that they could have 1 30-minute show in the morning after both of them were awake so Mommy could drink a cup of coffee and maybe read a quick devotional or sit in silence for a few minutes. They alternate who picks the show each day. Then the TV went off and it didn’t go back on until 4 pm when they got to watch a movie until dinner was ready at 5:30. By then they’d been on an outing, had reading time, played together, seen friends, gone to VBS or camp or swim lessons and were ready for some down time and so am I. We took turns choosing the movie—it could be a DVD we own or a movie from amazon or netflix, but they sat and watched that and ate a small snack while I got dinner ready, listened to a podcast with my headphones in and sipped a glass of wine. This year we’ve actually made a “bucket list” of movies they want to watch and I threw some in that I want to show them (Like Yours, Mine and Ours and Cheaper by the Dozen!) so now they don’t have to scroll endlessly through the Netflix options, they can simply pick a movie off our list to put on. They learned early on the TV wasn’t going on until 4, so asking didn’t do much good and pretty soon they just didn’t ask until it was time for their daily movie. That system might not work for you, but I have found that no matter what your system is, having a very specific set time every day is so helpful for kids—because if they think they’ll get a “yes” every time they ask they will ask you all the livelong day. At least mine will!
FIVE
And lastly for this week, I want to leave you a podcast recommendation! Some of you are familiar with the ancient personality typing system, the enneagram, and some of you aren’t, but if you are and you’re interested in learning more this summer, a podcaster I really enjoy, Annie Downs, is doing a series she’s calling “enneasummer” where for the next several weeks she’s exploring the 9 types of the enneagram. Her podcast is called That Sounds Fun and her episodes drop every Monday & Thursday. Starting this past Monday, Memorial Day, she’s working her way through the 9 types, starting with the 1’s, and talking to her friends who are those numbers asking about life as each given number. Monday’s episode was with enneagram expert Suzanne Stabile (author of The Road Back to You—a fantastic primer on the enneagram) and then starting Thursday May 30th Annie will start with number 1s. If you aren’t sure what number you are and want to learn more, I’d actually encourage you NOT to take a test but to simply listen to these 9 podcast episodes as they drop this month and see which numbers resonate with you. The enneagram is hard to accurately “test” for because the enneagram is all about what motivates each of us to behave the way we do. That’s super hard to test for. Tests can measure behavior—what DO you do, but it’s really tough to accurately measure WHY you do what you do. Since the enneagram was an oral tradition for so many centuries it’s actually best to learn your number by either listening to someone describe the inner world and inner motivations of that number or read about each number and process what you read to determine which numbers you are and which ones you aren’t. If you don’t know anything about the enneagram and want a great overview, Annie recorded an episode about a year and a half ago with enneagram expert Beth McCord that is a fantastic overview of each type, what their core fears are, what their core questions are and what their heart longs to hear. Just by listening to this my husband was immediately able to see himself described. So maybe start here and then listen to each episode as they drop this summer and learn more about how God made you!
