By Ariel In which Ariel discusses the BabyLit Primers that feature famous female authors and strong female characters. Celebrate Women's History Month by bringing the classics alive with these board books! This post contains affiliate links. By using them you help keep Busy Nest News up and running. Thank you for your continued support! BabyLit Primers written by Jennifer Adams and illustrated by Alison Oliver I love the BabyLit series, written by Jennifer Adams and illustrated by Alison Oliver. The series brings together two of my greatest passions in life: literature and instilling a love of reading in my child through stellar children’s books. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the series, Jane Adams and Alison Oliver use famous works of literature as inspiration for board books, giving our children their first taste of the great works that have endured. Each book in the series is different. Some are counting primers. Some are emotions primers. Some are weather primers, but each is unique and each is beautiful in their own way. What better way to celebrate Women’s History Month than by highlighting famous female authors in a way little ears can hear?
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By Brianna In which Brianna investigates common assumptions about military children, through the lens of the television shows and movies their teachers have consumed. What assumptions have these works instilled, and how true are they? Get ready: April is the Month of the Military ChildSince 1986, April has been designated the Month of the Military Child. This is a very special event for us, as both our husbands are Marines, and our children are unwittingly embarking on lives of service that they did not ask for. In preparation for this, we wanted to write an article about how teachers could incorporate the Month of the Military Child into their lesson plans. But then we spoke with some teachers and were reminded that the military-civilian divide is sadly a gaping chasm. In the event that a person has no contact with the military through a friend or family member (we're told that's about 99% of the country, so if it describes you, don't feel weird!), their impressions of military life are informed by the media. While there are many, many films about the military, few show the realities of military life for spouses, and fewer still for children. So what do we know about military kids? Which works have informed us of these truths? And how true are they, anyway? Let’s take a look! Since impressions and assumptions about how “other” people live are formed in adolescence and early adulthood, we focused on television shows and movies that were popular when today’s teachers were teens or young adults. To come up with this list, we combined what teachers told us they watched at that age that they remember featured military kids, with shows that stuck out to us. In chronological order we examined Saved By the Bell, Recess, Cadet Kelly, NCIS, Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front, iCarly, and Army Wives.
By Brianna In which Brianna reviews her daughter's art easel. No affiliate links this time, but we thank you for your support all the same. Enjoy! Crayola Magnetic-Double Sided Artist EaselMonkey loves to draw. She will attempt to draw with any implement she can get her hands on. And she will do this drawing on the first flat surface she comes across. Far too often the first surface she finds is a wall. We rent right now, and for some reason the places we rent come painted with entirely flat paint. This is not a semi-gloss, or a wipeable matte. No, flat and absorbent is what we’re working with. Nothing washes off these walls. Just, nothing. So we were pretty thrilled when Monkey was gifted a Crayola easel this past Christmas. The Magnetic Double Sided Artist Easel by Crayola has a beautiful teal frame. So many kids’ easels come in garish shades of primary colors, but everyone in our family enjoys this bright blue shade, so that’s pretty neat. One side of the easel is a white dry-erase board, and the other is a black chalkboard. Both sides have a yellow clip at the top, for holding a paper in place for other art endeavors. The way the legs are positioned, you can only use one side at a time. Setup of the easel was fairly simple, but I don’t think we could say it was easy. It took some force to snap all the pieces in place to construct the base. There were no screws, pegs, tacks, Allen wrenches or other hardware involved, though, so that is definitely a big plus!
By Ariel In which Ariel and Brianna fantasize about an outer space themed nursery. This post contains affiliate links. By using them you keep Busy Nest News up and running. Thank you for your continued support! Make Your Space Out of This World! Before I was pregnant, I used to laugh, smirk or judge profusely whenever someone would mention "nesting." Nesting? That's just an excuse to spend money! Maybe on some level, it is. But if so, it is buried beneath the all-encompassing hormonal need to create a safe, pleasant space to raise a child. It drives us to create fantasy nurseries long after our children are born. Nesting is real - all too real!
How about an outer space themed nursery? Though we both have girls and would have happily created a more feminine outer space nursery, we purposefully chose to keep it as gender neutral as possible. But many of these items have more gendered color choices if you so choose! Brianna's Two Cents: I agree. Nesting is a super power! If I could sell nesting in a bottle, I would be so crazy rich. I, too, love gender neutral nurseries. Gender neutral doesn't mean neutral colors or boring. In this case, it just means we can all agree that space is cool! Parents, put stuff YOU like in the nursery; you'll be spending a lot of time there, too. By Ariel In which Ariel reviews how she mixed and matched accessories from the Pura Kiki to transition from a infant bottle to a toddler sippy cup. She tried them all! This post contains affiliate links to her favorite bottles and accessories. Pura Kiki Infant Bottle 5 oz. & Vacuum Insulated Bottle 9 oz. We have been using the Pura cups since Bean was about a 10 months and I am still just as in love with them now as they day I bought them. But mine isn’t the only opinion that matters – Bean is the one who uses them. Does she love them? Who knows, she is a toddler.
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AuthorsAriel and Brianna are friends who met while working in a library. Now they collaborate to develop life-enhancing book club experiences. Archives
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