The Warren & the World is Story Warren’s weekly newsletter, providing a round-up of our favorite things from around the web as well as a review of what was on our site over the past week. We’re glad you’re here!
Around the Web
I’m Done Making My Kid’s Childhood Magical
Bunmi Laditan explores the idea that childhood is magical in and of itself at the Huffington Post.
- If our grandmothers and great-grandmothers could see the pressure modern mothers put on themselves, they’d think we were insane.
Since when does being a good mom mean you spend your days creating elaborate crafts for your children, making sure their rooms are decked-out Pottery Barn Ikea masterpieces worthy of children’s magazines, and dressing them to the nines in trendy coordinated outfits?
Says Who?
April Hoss writes at Coffee and Crumbs about the conversations her old self has with herself today.
- There are people in hotel rooms right now all over the world, watching tv in fluffy robes and eating guacamole. Right this minute.
A plastic truck hit me in the temple. I cannot do this.
I stewed, angry at my husband’s job, my husband’s hours, the medical profession in general, medical residency specifically, and the people eating guacamole in hotels.
My tailspin came to a halt by a quiet thought. Says who?
Really though, says who? The kids? Maybe. They’ve seen me crumble enough times to be under no illusion about my propensity to crack.
The 50 Best Kids Movies to Watch as a Family
Some times its hard to remember that there are more options than Junior’s most recent obsession when it comes to picking a movie for family movie night. Time Out Kids has a good list to consider the next time you’re stuck.
- Got a ‘lil film buff on your hands? We thought so. Thankfully, there are plenty of classics and new family favorites to make each popcorn and New York pizza–packed movie night better than the next. To help you make your selections, we’ve compiled a list of the best kids’ movies to please all generations squeezed on the couch.
The Life Imagined
Lanier Ivester writes at The Rabbit Room about the influence of Tasha Tudor’s life imagined on her own life.
- The news drew me up, halted me in my mad career through the day. Sickened me with the sham I had been making of my own ‘life imagined’ of late. All she had imparted by her life and her works seemed to wash over me in a flood and mingle with my tears. Those little Nubian goats out in the barn were her doing—I had fallen in love amid the pages of her books. The dream of a kitchen hearthfire and fairy rings in the garden and magical Christmases and farm-fresh eggs (from the most coddled chickens, of course)–a homeplace where the old ways were revered (though of an 1850s variety on my part, instead of her 1830s)—these all came down to me through the goodly lineage of Tasha Tudor.
Or they rose up in me, rather, latent longings that were as much me as the blue eyes I’d gotten from my grandfather and my slightly crooked smile. Tasha Tudor helped me to validate them, and a thousand others.
Around the Warren
The Gift of an Outdoor Soul
Sarah Clarkson reminds us of the wonder of the outdoors and its impact on our lives.
- When I was nine years old, my family moved to the middle-of-nowhere, Texas. There, in the hundred-degree heat of my first Texas summer, I made friends with nature. Our new home was a worn, yellow house on two hundred scraggly acres of crackly grass, fields bristling with cedar, and low brown hills occasionally decked in wildflowers. We were deep in the country, a long trek away from groceries, neighbors, and the usual rounds of entertainment. Right at the beginning of our new country life, my mom made a momentous decision. Despite the bother of four restless little ones demanding entertainment, my mom resolutely refused the ease she might have gotten by long hours of indoor electronic entertainment. To our every protestation of boredom or loneliness, she brightly told us to “go outside.”
Member of the Family
Zach Franzen discovers a story in which a boy contributes to his family’s welfare and wonders why there aren’t more tales like that.
- Some months ago, my wife and I were reading Eleanor Estes’ charming book Rufus M. We were amazed at one story where Rufus (the youngest of the Moffats and the title character) found some money frozen in the ice. While the rest of his family were busy trying to manage a frozen pipe under the house, Rufus managed to chisel two quarters, three dimes, and a couple nickels out of the ice. He used this money (quite a bit it seems for the time) to pay for a plumber to fix the troublesome pipe, then he went to the store and “… laid all his money on the counter.”
Something to Do with Your Kids
It’s springtime, and maybe your family wants to make a fairy garden this year. Here are some ideas!
And Something to Watch
I had a college friend who played marimba. I never saw this level of aerobic activity in his playing. I think I need to call him out for that.
Thank you for reading. We’re on your side.
Carolyn Clare Givens is a displaced Northerner exploring the foreign ways of the South. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her literary cat, Lord Peter Wimsey. She's the author of The King's Messenger and Rosefire and in her free time helps run Bandersnatch Books.
You can find her at carolyncgivens.com or on Facebook or Instagram at @carolyncgivens.
You can find her at carolyncgivens.com or on Facebook or Instagram at @carolyncgivens.
Latest posts by Carolyn Clare Givens (see all)
- The Warren & The World Vol 13, Issue 16 - May 10, 2025
- The Warren & The World Vol 15 - May 3, 2025
- The Warren & The World Vol 14 - April 26, 2025
Leave a Reply