Daisy May & Me: Inspiration and positive living

Annnd we're back!

Due to popular request, we're talking about gratitude this month, so what's a better book club pick than...

The Gratitude Diaries by Janice Kaplan

Janice Kaplan is a journalist and former Editor-in-Chief of Parade magazine. One New Year's Eve she had the desire to show more gratitude in her life for a whole year, and this book details her experiences and extensive research on gratitude in all aspects of life. She's a great writer, guys! It's very fun and insightful to read.

⏱: 305 pages (8 hours & 12 minutes for the audiobook - read by the author)

📖: Unlike our previous picks, this book is more of an adult read; however, this book has so many applications for families. We're excited to talk with you about all of the different things we can implement in our families and relationships.

Ready for your family book club meeting? This is the post for you! 

This month, we're talking about something that only recently has been taken more seriously.

Mental health. 

We have the perfect book club pick that focuses on mental health awareness and our relationship with our mental health. 

The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller

Natalie is a seventh grade, quarter-Korean girl whose mom is struggling with depression. We'll follow along as Natalie works through an interesting science project, her feelings about what's happening in her family, and the internal battle she faces with how much to share and how to make things okay again. 

I read the majority of the book within two days, so that should tell you something!

It's 292 pages and the audiobook is 5 hours and 12 minutes.

Reading level is grades 3-7 (ages 8-12). This one can be read to younger kids, but some things may need extra explanation. 

This book really is an incredible illustration of mental health and it's perfect fit for a family book club. I think you'll have a pretty amazing discussion with this one. 

Anger is inevitable. 

We are going to have confrontations, hurt feelings, misunderstandings, miscommunications, fighting, etc. throughout our lives, especially in our families.

It stinks, right? No one wants to be angry. But it's part of life and it really is inevitable. 

We cannot stop ourselves from getting angry.

You didn't read that wrong. We can't stop ourselves from experiencing anger. However, we can control how we handle and react to anger, which is different from the actual emotion. 

On the blog, we're talking about two people that have made careers out of helping children and their parents to understand emotions and how to be in control of our reactions to them. One of them is pretty famous, but I wonder how many of you know about the woman that heavily impacted his career?

We'll talk about these two phenomenal individuals, as well as some tips, tricks, and exercises for cooling anger rather than fueling the fire. 

Is this something you struggle with? How do you help your kids to understand their emotions? 

For as long as I can remember, my family has played games together. I know I did a lot of things with friends on the weekends, but we also always played a few games together too. 

Now that I have my own family, that obsession has not stopped. We are constantly looking for new games to add to our shelf and we love introducing friends and family to new games. I look forward to playing games with my own children as they get older because I hope they enjoy the opportunity to spend time as a family. 

While it's possible that there will be fighting, or crying, or even cheating, games also bring conversation, laughter, and joy. They can help with critical thinking and can even help kids (and adults...) to understand and develop sportsmanship. 

If you're tired of the classic board games we all know and love, I have a few suggestions for you in this blogpost! 

A new month means a new book for the Daisy May & Me Family Book Club!

We hope you enjoyed last month's book as much as we did, and we think you'll enjoy this one too. April's pick is...

Absolutely Truly: A Pumpkin Falls Mystery by Heather Vogel Frederick

We're talking about family relationships this month and Absolutely Truly is a great example of that. We'll read about Truly, a 12-year-old girl who moves from Austin, Texas to the small city of Pumpkin Falls, New Hampshire. She'll navigate relationships with her parents, siblings, and her aunt, as well as new friendships, all while trying to solve a mystery! And she's 6-feet tall, so that adds a fun element too. 

It's 355 pages and the audiobook is 8 hours and 1 minute.

Reading level is grades 3-7 (ages 8-12) but another one that can be read aloud to younger kids. 

We hope you'll join us. We think you'll absolutely truly enjoy it. ;)

Check out this blogpost for more information and for ideas for your family book club meeting.