When I arrived home from four days of camping on Sunday, dusty and stinky, my husband naively asked for the highlights.

As I stepped into the shower, I beamed, “besides the fact that I bravely pooped – not once, but three times in the woods?”

(I’m a Spicy One. We are rejuvenated by surviving hardships and novelty.)

“Yes – besides that,” he replied, amused. His weirdo was home again. (That’s me!)

“Oh, all the playfulness! Definitely! No Wi-Fi. No deadlines. No emails. Just 45 humans hanging out in a temporary tent village without stress. We were all so playful.”

It’s round three (ding!) of our Summer Screentime Series!

→ We’ve talked about noticing why you might allow more screen time than you want to. (Typically for mom-breaks or to avoid meltdowns when it’s time to turn them off.)

→ I’ve shared what’s developmentally recommended for each age and stage.

As a young Spicy One I very much wanted magic to be real. At the age of nine, the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis ignited my belief that there were indeed fantastical beings like centaurs and dwarfs living in a faraway forest. I convinced myself there was a secret world just beyond the old door leaning against our attic wall, but due to the summer heat in Maryland, I could never reach it without fainting!

Spicy Ones don’t want to be told what to do. And we certainly don’t like hearing the word no.

(WE JUST DON’T, OKAY??)

Like my friend’s five-year-old son — he was so sure his mom would turn down his wish to show his friend an iPad game that he cleverly disguised his real ask inside a request for cuddles.

“Momma, can you snuggle me on the couch? While I show Miles my video game?”

One consistent heartache I hear from moms is the creepy-crawly guilt they feel when they think about all the screen time their kids are getting -- especially over the summer.

Are you feeling this, too??

First, let's cultivate some self-compassion. We live in an increasingly disconnected society where there simply isn’t enough support to go around. Screens can feel like a lifeline.

Are you or your Spicy OneⓇ an HSP?

This stands for Heightened Sensory Perceptor and was coined by Louve Henning as a kinder substitution for the original acronym (which stood for Highly Sensitive Person).

As an HSP, moving through a huge city can be exhaustingly stimulating. Less “vacation” and more “trip.”

I saw the new Inside Out movie! (Don’t worry – no spoilers here.)

It was so good! And I wanna talk about it – so I’m pushing our juicy screen time discussions to next week.

First off, I think the movie is best suited for 10+ (often a good rule of thumb for age-appropriateness is the age of the protagonist – main character Riley is entering puberty in this one). I do think some slightly younger kids could handle it with your help unpacking the themes.

Imagine knowing someone’s deepest, darkest secrets, the exact word or phrase that could send them spiraling.

Now pretend you also have an underdeveloped brain and therefore struggle with emotional regulation and self-control.

Kind of a recipe for disaster, no? Siblings, man!

Let’s be real – summer schedules can be a total cluster truck.

When it comes to wrangling kids over the summer, regardless of whether you work outside the home or exclusively inside it, we’re probably all a little too nostalgic about these long summer days.

Emotions make us do odd things.

Like the other day, when I hid in a parking lot outside a cafe to watch my youngest pour coffee at his very first job ever.

What a thrilling thing to see him holding boiling liquid over unsuspecting patrons! They have no idea this guy’s never poured coffee before in his life.

Are you or your Spicy OneⓇ an HSP?

This stands for Heightened Sensory Perceptor and was coined by Louve Henning as a kinder substitution for the original acronym (which stood for Highly Sensitive Person).

As an HSP, moving through a huge city can be exhaustingly stimulating. Less “vacation” and more “trip.”

What is a Yes Day?

A time period planned (with much fanfare leading up to it) where the parents give a hearty YES to any idea the child has. The goal of a yes day is to create a memory with your kid(s) -- bonding with them because they are driving the boat (maybe literally).

When the kids choose the agenda (and you might be surprised at how tame their initial asks will be), they feel empowered, seen, and respected. And that makes for a connected child – and as the quality of your relationship improves, often things like cooperation take care of themselves.

When a Spicy One® is super fired up for an experience, they can build it up in their mind and romanticize it. And then, when reality inevitably doesn’t perfectly align with their fantasy, they can crash hard emotionally.

She was so excited for me to come up. For weeks she’d been texting me ideas and itinerary reminders. Bring a floral dress for the teapot painting party! Don’t forget your pickleball racquet!

Mother’s Day is weird.

It’s way more complex than people talk about in polite company.

If your relationship with your mom, mother-in-law, and your kids is perfect, I’m super happy for you!

But many of us don’t have a mother we can just call whenever we want. Maybe they’ve passed away. Or maybe they’re harsh when we most need tenderness.

He was a total stranger.

“Do you all need me to pray for you about anything?”

My friend was in the Target checkout line with her 12-year-old niece. The man with scraggly hair and an eager smile was making them both uncomfortable.

He stood too close.

And he wasn’t getting any of the nonverbal hints they were putting out.

I hate to be the bearer of this news, but Mother’s Day (U.S.) is right around the corner.

Are you ready for it?

Here’s a nasty myth I see bullying hard-working moms like you:​If someone truly loves you, they should know what you want.

First, I want to validate the desire here. It is reasonable to want to be seen and known, especially by our loved ones.

I’m not sure when it happened, but apparently I am designing Easter baskets for young adults now. And they don’t want candy. They want cash. It’s a whole thing.

Especially when your partner seems to think there are magical forces at play in bringing it all together. (In his defense, he did order the ham. But the look of surprise on his face when he discovered the kids’ baskets was confusing for all of us -- you know there's no Easter bunny, right?!)

I went looking for tips for being a good mother-in-law to share with you, and my ADHD hyperfocus landed me in an Estranged Moms Facebook group!

After inviting a classy-looking, gray-haired guru to come on an Insta LIVE to share her Ten Tips for being a Good MIL, I decided to join her newsletter. I wanted to make sure our vibes were a good match.

I’ve got some pep in my step because I just hosted my Spicy One and her college friends. Picture five 19-year-olds giggling, dancing, sleeping, and eating in my home for four days.

As I did my best impression of an over-eager Downton Abbey servant during a royal visit, I also leaned into the opportunity to get to know my daughter’s new friends on a deeper level.

Here are four things I did that helped make this long-as-heck playdate enjoyable. I hope you can apply them to your kid gatherings as well.

Something I say a lot in my Insta DMs: “Spicy is in the eye of the beholder”.

Meaning that what I find challenging as a parent, you might think is a cakewalk – and vice versa.

The moment I realized that my daughter was…built different?

It was the week in my mom group we discussed the benefits of daddy-daughter dates – they can be a helpful time for girls to learn how they wish to be treated by future partners.