Daisy May & Me: Inspiration and positive living

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.

Do you know how much time you spend on your phone daily? 

I mean the exact amount of time? 

Your phone does. It can tell you how much time you spend on each app and the total amount of time you spend on your phone each day. It can tell you how many times you unlock your phone too.

It's a sobering thing.

Do you have boundaries set for your phone/device use? What about for your kids' phone and device use? 

Do you talk about internet and device safety with your kids? 

We've got some simple tips and suggestions in this blog post to get the ball rolling for you and your family. 

It's so important to teach our kids how to use these tools properly. It's too easy to get sucked in, to be someone we are not, and to share way too much information to people we shouldn't. 

What are some things that have worked for your family? What are some things that you or your family are struggling with?

In today’s world, it’s tough to love our bodies. 

Most of us do not fit the Hollywood mold, and we are constantly bombarded by sales pitches for products, diets, and workout regimens that will help us to get the body we’ll finally love. 

But will they really? And will we really? In reality, we need self-love now in order to love whatever comes down the road, or we’ll never be content. There will always be something that isn’t quite right or perfect. 

And guess what? We teach that to our kids. 

Our children aren’t born with body issues. We teach them that. Either directly or through outside influences that we allow into our lives. 

So what do we do? 

We change the curriculum. 

In this blog post, we’re looking at some incredible people that teach us how to love our bodies now along with an activity and some discussion questions to talk about with your kids. 

What do you think about this? How has the world affected your ability to love your body?

“If you’re always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.”

We’re starting off #blackhistorymonth with an incredible woman: Maya Angelou. 

Maya was most notably known for her writing - her autobiographies and poetry - but did you know that she was also a singer, a dancer, a streetcar conductor, screenwriter, director, actress, professor, and lecturer? She was kind of incredible, to say the least!

She also experienced some tough things in life, and yet she drew strength from her struggles rather than letting them destroy her. Maya teaches us that we can learn from what we experience in life and we can use it for good and to connect with the world. Regardless of what we go through, we can R I S E. 

In this blogpost, you’ll find more about Maya’s life and a fun writing activity with some discussion questions to talk about with your kid(s). There’s also a list of additional resources to learn more about Maya and some of her works.

“Never interrupt someone doing something you said couldn’t be done.”

Amelia Earhart is one of the most iconic women of all time. She set over 16 records in aviation and continuously pushed herself to reach the next goal. She’s perfect for #wowwomanwednesday.

In today’s world, we are often crippled by fear. We worry about what could go wrong. We worry about the details and if we’re capable. We worry about what others will think about us. And the ultimate worry: “What if I fail?” 

Amelia believed that women should try to do what men have tried. She was passionate about trying. She also believed that failure is an invitation for others to try. What an incredible mindset: failure is an invitation, not an end. 

So what doors will you open today? What will you try to do? Maybe something that you’ve been afraid to try, but secretly longing to do? 

When will you stop floating, and start s o a r i n g like Amelia? 

This blog post has more information about Amelia as well as an activity & discussion questions to talk about with your kids.