Power Nap #69
Why we take our kids to church / Airpods now have hearing aids?
In Case You Missed It
These are the best non-stick pans. They are pricier but are truly that much better and they last! You can use metal utensils and put it in the dishwasher.
This heating pad is a $35 luxury. Whether for your back or your feet after a chilly day, it is DIVINE to have warm and ready in your bed waiting for you.
Monthly meal planning has still been a saving grace. Here's why. If you need the monthly meal plan template get it here.
This standing desk is perfect for any height! It's easily adjustable and works well if you are tall. This combined with the walking pad is efficiency at its finest.
You need this recipe for your football watching this fall. Recipe is on the blog.
If you missed any links this week check the Amazon Shop or ShopMy.
“In a society that glorifies grinding, short-term gains and pushing to extremes, it takes guts to rest.”
Brad Stulberg
Things We Found Interesting
Over 60 mRNA cancer vaccines in clinical trials. "These vaccines aim to leverage the immune system to target cancer cells more effectively than traditional therapies. They can be personalized to individual tumors, potentially improving treatment outcomes and reducing recurrence." Also, if you haven't seen the “fork hands” video of how mRNA works, it's embedded in this link. It's hilarious. And it shows how incredible this could be to fight disease.
Kinser's Law: Around the time you finish doing something, you know enough to start. So true.
Ok, so this is cool: Apple announced on that its AirPods Pro 2 headphones will soon become an FDA-cleared hearing aid. h/t to Abnormal Returns
Molly’s Finds
Everyone, meet Molly! Molly is one of my best friends in the whole world, and she also happens to be a very (very!) meticulous researcher when it comes to shopping. Molly would tell you she’s OCD about it, but I know if I am looking for something particular, Molly is the person to ask. For the reason, I asked Molly if she would be willing to share her best finds with the Power Nappers, and she obliged!
And with that, we give you the first ever “MOLLY’S FINDS” where she is going to share an item, the problem it solves, and why she chose it. (Also we wanted to call this “Molly’s Meticulously Researched Recs” for alliteration purposes but that felt too long so if you have a good suggestion please let us know 🤣)
FIRST UP…THIS CHORE CHART
MAGNETIC CHORE CHART + STICKERS
“With school back in full swing I found myself needing something to help with the daily routine with my kids—especially for the after school hours! Like any parent I was constantly reminding my kids to put up their shoes, unpack their backpack, wash their hands, etc. I knew a chore chart would be helpful but was overwhelmed with the idea of creating one myself. I also knew I needed something that didn’t seem “baby-ish” for my first grader but that was also simple enough for my preschooler to follow. Enter this chore chart. It comes with 2 charts and 4 sets of stickers which contain more than enough age appropriate tasks for both kids! The stickers have words AND pictures so both kids can easily navigate it as opposed to a “write your own” option that is limited to readers. It also comes with a magnet already attached to the back so it effortlessly goes right on the fridge instead of needing to find wall space to hang it on. The kids also love the satisfaction of checking off the items and I appreciate that it doesn’t require any special marker that likely would have gotten lost the first day anyways!” - Molly
Q+A with Kate
From Ericka: Love your content, recommendations, and honesty :) My question is about church! I grew up going to church and Sunday school and have fond memories growing up in my hometown church. Now, as a mom of 3 (2,5,and6) who works full-time outside the home and my husband does too, I find that going to church on Sunday is a lot of work :( My oldest are in school full-time (K and 1st grade) and the 2yr old goes to daycare 5days/week. It feels like such a big ask of them to add a 6th day where they need to be up, dressed, and out the door. They are eager for a "jammie day" where they can relax at home and stay in their pjs and I don't blame them! I want this to be part of our lives, but am wondering if it's just not our season for this? I know going to church doesn't make you anymore of a Christian, but... Any thoughts or advice of how you incorporate this into your busy lives?
Kate: Gosh, this is such a good question! We are in the same boat with school and usually sports on Saturdays and feeling like Sunday is the only day to just hangout. My kids are also at the age that they are starting to voice often that they do not want to go to church, and I think the sentiment is similar to your kids (they don't hate it, they just prefer pajamas). We are actively working through why they feel this way and what we could do to make the experience better for them.
Operating off of the assumption you have a church you enjoy and a desire to go, here's my thoughts: what are the things you love about church? Is it the community? The worship? I think if you can name why church matters to you, you might could hone in more on why you feel that it is or isn’t worth the sacrifice you are making. For us, it is something we know that every week will center around worshiping God and doing so with other people who also love God. I do fear that telling you that we go could make you feel like you also have to make that same choice, but I want to be clear: you don’t. But I think so many things we choose to do in life come down to believing that they are worth the sacrifice. For us, church falls into that boat.
At the same time, it’s not all a begrudged sacrifice either. We have found that there is a lot of joy in worshipping and fellowshipping with others; deeper joy has come through this commitment. I wonder, if you do decide church is something you want to commit to attending, is there another time you could go (is there a Saturday night service?), or, could you make a point to come home from church, change into jammies, and have a movie afternoon and takeout for dinner? Like either move church from Sunday morning, or create that “Sunday morning” vibe on Sunday afternoon. Hope this was helpful!
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