The Lily Cafe Digest #12

Wow, the summer really flew by, didn’t it? In my last Digest, I mentioned my son had graduated from Kindergarten in June. Now he’s started First Grade. From home, because our school district is smart and decided for an online only start. But it leaves me with less time for my blog since school runs from 9-2:15 and I still have a toddler to take care of. And potty train. Yay.

I often wonder these days how students will come out of this, especially as they get older. I wonder at how independent and resilient they might be, how creative and confident in their own abilities. With students on their own more often, they’re learning more about themselves and how they learn, what works and what doesn’t, and learning they need to find their voice if something isn’t adding up for them. Our district is stressing the importance of students and parents reaching out to teachers and administrators if they don’t understand something. I wonder how these students will come out of this, how it’ll affect their growth into adulthood. And how it’ll shape the way we parents look at our kids right now and as they grow up.

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings said it best:

No matter how you’re handling your child’s school year this year I am confident you can handle it, Mom and/or Dad. If you are worried about your child’s education then that already shows what a good parent you are.

This academic year isn’t going to be easy. It’s going to be difficult, stressful, and frustrating. On Day 1, an hour after starting, I was close to tears, and only one of my kids is old enough for school. But Lisa’s right. We must remember it will be okay. Every student in traditional schools in every grade is going through this all over the country, all over the world. It will be okay. It’s a learning experience for all of us, something that will go down in the history books. I just think of how exciting it’ll be when my grandkids ask what the pandemic was like. But it will be okay. We’ll be strong, we’ll be weak, but we’ll get through this. There are so many parents I’ve “met” through this blog, and the support is amazing, the words of encouragement heartening, the wishes for luck like water to a thirsty soul. We’re dealing with this as best we can, and that’s all we can do. As many have said before: We’ve got this.

In other news, I got tired of hearing “Mommy” all day every day for the past 5 months, so I’ve been teaching my kids to call me Unicorn. They now call me both, which makes being yelled for just a little bit more bearable. It’s sometimes nice, and funny to them, to say “Who is this Mommy you speak of?” Except now my 6 year old is insisting on calling me Yuna. It’s short for Unicorn. This kid is too smart.

Check Out the Books I Reviewed, Some Interesting Novel Excerpts, and the Book Blog Tours I Participated in

Book Reviews: Or What You Will by Jo Walton|What You Wish For by Katherine Center|Ashes of the Sun by Django Wexler|The Baron of Magister Valley by Steven Brust|Something to Live For by Richard Roper|Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim|The Friendship List by Susan Mallery|Umbral Ten by Douglas Murphy|The Unfettered Child by Michael C. Sahd|How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It by K. J. Parker|Awkward by Gurpreet Kaur|The Charm Bracelet by Ella Allbright

Excerpts: Blood and Silver by Vali Benson

Book Blog Tour: The Friendship List by Susan Mallery|When I Was You by Amber Garza

Catch Up On Queen of the Garden of Girls

Part 34|Part 35|Part 36|Part 37|Part 38

Enjoy My Ratio Baking Adventures

Let’s Talk About Meringue|Turning Custard Into Pudding|Lemon Meringue Cake|Chocolate Friendship Cake|Making Mug Cakes

Blog Posts I’ve Enjoyed from the Blogging Community

The Discovery of “Normal” and What That Means for a Neurodivergent Writer from A Truer Fiction: Autism has a special place in my heart since I used to work with children with autism and we suspect my husband is autistic, so this was a really interesting read for me, not just about what autism is from the perspective of someone who is autistic, but what it also means to be a neurodivergent writer.

Be Kind from Busy Blessed Mess: With schools having just started or about to start, there are so many parents choosing to keep their kids home and so many needing to send them back whether it’s safe or not. This mom reminds everyone to have kindness and understanding towards parents. It’s not always an easy decision of what to do in this time.

An Over 50 Blogger from SOMEKINDOF50: This lady is over 50 and amazing! So many people stress doing certain things and being established by their twenties and thirties, but she reminds me there’s still a lot of living left at 50 and beyond.

Minding My Mythology, part 1 from Fairytale Feminista: I adore mythology and was thrilled to read this myth from the indigenous people of Puerto Rico.

Review: Ashes of the Sun by Django Wexler from Books by Proxy: I liked the book, but struggled because I’d read reviews comparing it to Star Wars beforehand, but, reading this gorgeous review opened my eyes to things I’d missed. And, honestly, it’s as gorgeous as the book.

10 Major Benefits of Reading from Jorge Sette “Linguagem”: If you ever need yet another reason to read, or that push to crack open a book, here’s an excellent list of 10 reasons. Right now 4 and 8 have taken on more importance. Well, to me, at least.

Happy #mapmonday! – My Favorite Fantasy Maps from Faeryreads: I adore maps of fantasy worlds, so this post was definitely like eye candy to me. The maps here are gorgeous! If you enjoy maps in your books, this is one to definitely check out.

Always from Brooke Cutler: I adore Brooke. She always gets right to the heart and always, always makes me feel like she just understands. This is one that just made me cry, and I think everyone needs to read it’s message. As well as Explore because, as much as distance learning is going to prove to be difficult for many of us and balance will never be achieved, it occurred to me while reading it that we parents will never have this chance to learn alongside our children again, unless we homeschool. So, I for one, am freaking out, but my heart also melts as I realize I’ll never have this chance again.

The Blossom Festival – Short Story from Nopoodles: I adore Nopoodles’ short stories. This is one of them. I wouldn’t mind attending this festival, and I’m dying to know what is going on outside the town. It’s a wonderful story, so, if you need a momentary diversion from life, I highly recommend this one.

weakness from Eli Schamane: This is just one of those posts that people need to read. The message is for everyone, and is something I think we all need at one point or another.

Most Sincerely, kat

You can find a list of all the Digests plus some bloggers I adore over here