A few good gems

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Happy Friday! I know many of you have started school already. To tell you the truth, I'm always a wee bit ambivalent about the start of school. I'm sad to lose our slower mornings and lazier days, but excited to reintroduce some structure. I do love some structure -- that's the nerdy, controlling side of me anyway. At any rate, we have ONE more week of summer, and ONE more week before we send our baby girl off to college. I'm a little better prepared this time around, but it still feels kind of hurt-y. (At least there's the dorm room to DECORATE.)  

In my structure-less anticipation of the upcoming school year, I leave you with a few good gems: 

  • I've got my Zoku in the freezer so I can make these Peach-Banana Smoothie Popsicles. It's clean eating. All the cool kids are doing it. At least that's what I keep telling myself.
  • I know you've probably already seen three zillion links to this. But just in case it's skipped your corner of the Internet, you should definitely read about the Opt-Out Generation. That's us folks! (Not that all of us opted out.) What I really, really like about this article is that the difficult (impossible) situation of middle-class, American women is clearly delineated. The two-income household is stressful. The stay-at-home situation has its drawbacks. The returning to work scenario is difficult. You get the idea. Read on my women! (And my men!)
  • This article is hilarious. And I tend to agree with the premise. Do you want your daughter to be nice? 
  • Anne linked to Cathy Zielske's essay on her daughter's last year at home on our Facebook page, but I think it bears repeating. It's a beautiful tribute to motherhood AND to her relationship with her daughter. Bravo Cathy.
  • This envelope pillow tutorial is genius. I've been contemplating sprucing up our living room, so I might whip out the old sewing machine and make a few of these.
  • Finally! An article telling parents how to handle sending kids off to college. Written by a USC Dean of Students, the article brakes kiddo-launching into three phases: disorientation, reorientation, and new normal. My personal three stages are stunned and sobbing, walking around with a hole in my heart, and comforting myself with food. But the Dean of Student's way is probably better. Probably.