Reading

Williamsburg, 2013

So, one of my pre-baby # two resolutions is to read more. I'm starting a book club with some of the other women in my local mothers' group, and our first book is Sisterland, by Curtis Sittenfield. I've been meaning to read it for a while but it was good to have a deadline. And I just started The Circle, by Dave Eggers.

I've also been reading the usual online stuff. Here are some stories I've found compelling lately, if you're interested.

This article on parenting in the NY Times. I especially like the line, "“Baby, one day they’ll be able to get themselves a cup of water.”

This piece on which kinds of spending makes us happy, from The Billfold.

This post, on saying yes to your kids more often than saying no. A few people give the author flack in the comments for letting her son skip school, but hey, he is only three and a half. And childhood is short.

I've also recently discovered the blog NYC School Help. More on our search for a nursery school for Axel to come, but in the process I've found myself doing a lot of research on public, magnet, charter, and private schools in the area.

Yes, Axel's only 15 months old, but believe it or not, I had to apply for his nursery program for the fall of 2014 about two months ago; in New York you kind of need to have a plan. I've found a ton of useful info here, and I love that the site's author, Joyce, will do private consultations with your family to help pick the right school for your child.

Book Club

Axel, 2013

We have a book eater on our hands. A new meaning to the expression "media diet?"

I've also been busy updating my blog roll. There are some Williamsburg blogs I've recently discovered, like Motherburg and WillyB Mum, as well as the wonderful Almost Fearless, about a family (of three, soon to be four) who've spent the last 2 years traveling around the globe, visiting some 38 countries along the way. They are now semi-settled in Mexico, and it makes for some good escapism on this white-skied January day. I've also been checking out Writing Chapter Three, a really frank take on being a stay at home mother.

I find myself reading a good deal about babies and parenting, because that's my default mode these days, but I'm also working on my New Years' resolution to read more in general. Like this New Yorker article about re-wilding Europe.

Also on my list? Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and NW by Zadie Smith. I may even finish them by 2013.