Power Nap #78
How we handle kids' sports / 12 Days of Christmas Consumables Freebie
In Case You Missed It
Looking for an inexpensive and meaningful Christmas gift? Consider a recipe binder filled with some favorite recipes. Get the free printable and template on how to make your own here.
Low Stakes Baking is back! This time, puppy chow edition.
You have to make this for your neighbors this Christmas.
Are you having trouble keeping track of Christmas gift spending and inventory? Here is Kate's spreadsheet template to help you.
Dull knife? This knife sharpener is so easy to use and transforms the dullest knife.
Speaking of sharing treats, have you seen the 12 Days of Christmas Consumables? It's a free printable with 12 budget friendly, food gifts to share this holiday season. Get it here.
“When you think you are too old to do something new remember you will never be younger than you are right now."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Things We Found Interesting
If you are new, this segment is where we put articles we found interesting. It doesn't mean we necessarily agree with everything in every article (sometimes we even disagree!). Also, we do our best to link to free articles, but occasionally articles may require a subscription or require you to create a free account.
An ode to Chess. If board games are played in heaven, I suspect chess is one of them. h/t to the Browser.
If you like tennis, I have subscribed to this newsletter that mashes tennis and analytics and enjoyed it. (it's free).
Speaking of tennis, the turf war between tennis and pickleball is escalating.
A few weeks ago, a Power Nap contained a Q&A on why Kate and I decided to have the number of kids we did. You can read it here (scroll most of the way down). This article/essay discusses some possible reasons people are having less kids these days. There are a lot of theories discussed, but there were two that stuck out to me as interesting. First, the amount of pressure we put on ourselves to be “exceptional” parents. We've made parenting really hard (and expensive). And we feel like if we aren't doing every conceivable thing for our children, we are failing them. From the article: “We think our children require our constant close attention. We worry about them incessantly. We think anything that’s not absolute top-tier achievement is failure.” Second, more effective birth control and people's propensity to have high time-preference. Meaning today, because of how effective birth control is (and thank goodness it is effective) you have to make an ”affirmative decision" to have a baby, something you know will be worth it but really hard. Whereas in the past, people just had kids accidentality a lot more. I had never heard this theory but it makes a lot of sense: “People procrastinate. People are really bad at doing things which are hard in the short-term but make you happy in the long-term. . . . As soon as you have the option to not have a baby right now, this time, it’s awfully tempting to say: ‘you know, I totally want all the diapers and spit-up eventually, but not this time, maybe next time.’”
Q&A with Kate
Question from Anne: Do your kids do sports? How do you handle the peer pressure of either doing something or not? With a small town the social calendar seems to evolve around sport teams, we keep signing back up. It's a never ending cycle right now, and I either need to figure out how to stop the FOMO feeling from sinking in. Any advice?? Thanks!!
Nate: This is a toughie. I was definitely a sports kid and I loved it! My dad drove me all around Pennsylvania and the surrounding states for 3 on 3 basketball, AAU, travel baseball, soccer, etc. I have multiple friends who LOVE sports and their kids LOVE sports. And their lives during the week and on the weekends are ALL travel sports. And I think that's great if that's what the kids like and the parents enjoy it too. It can be a really good community being on a team, for kids and parents. I think for me as a child this was the right thing: it gave my life structure, deepened a lot of friendships, and I had a blast.
I do think many people fall into the “Travel Team Trap,” where one day you look up and Billy has soccer four nights a week and Sally is doing field hockey across town and Jeremy has a karate tournament this weekend in the neighboring state. But neither you nor your kids are really all that passionate about soccer, field hockey, or karate. And you realize you haven't all been home for a quiet dinner and evening at the house since the summer. And I think you really lose something if you lose that informal time where the whole family is together with no agenda.
There isn't a right or one size fits all answer. I think a few times a year you have to take a step back and evaluate if your activities/sports are putting you and your children in the best position to flourish. That answer may change as the kids age. Right now, we tend to say “yes” to most things the kids indicate they want to do, mostly because they are still young and most sports are still a fairly low lift. Scout and Millie do gymnastics one night a week and it's at the same time – so it's an hour each week. Millie is doing rec basketball this year for the first time. We tried soccer with Scout a few years ago and she didn't like it. Same with cheerleading. We've also tried piano lessons with the girls and neither one liked it very much. With Johnny, he is now entering the age where being part of a team is larger commitment (multiple times per week). We can handle it with just one, but it is hard to imagine having his winter basketball schedule times four.
So this is a long-winded way of saying that we are trying to figure out the right things for our family right now and avoid the inertia of overcommitting at the cost of other things we value. Sometimes it means you join the team and sometimes it might mean you should quit the team.
Holiday Hallmark Books
You all crowd-sourced this list of 30 Hallmark-type holiday books and inspired us to read along and feature some in our December Power Naps. Here is a printable with the full list brought to you by the Naptime Kitchen community! Next up is a book by Josie Silver.
