Life lately
Easter egg hunts, book chat and squeezing in moments of work
I had plans but…
I had planned to write the third instalment of ‘The Remembering’ monthly series (here’s the first and second post from that series so far), but the Easter school holidays have drastically reduced my thinking capacity!
So, I thought I’d talk about what we’ve been up to lately instead. I always like reading these kind of posts, so hope you will too!
Easter highlights amongst the overwhelm
The Easter holidays have definitely felt full on here. The dishwasher and the washing machine are on multiple times a day, I'm making different meals at each meal time and the kids have been bored. The kids have had lots of hospital appointments lately too. It has felt like a lot, especially trying to navigate my sons nap-times which are changing now he’s getting older and sleeping more in the night.
Saying all of that, we have had lots of lovely days and here's some highlights that stand out for me:
A family Easter party at the baby music class my youngest goes to - my 6 year old enjoyed it more than my 1 year old, especially when the parachute comes out!
We had an Easter Egg hunt at my mums house, which the kids enjoyed. It was so lovely seeing my youngest involved too, he loved finding all the eggs and putting them into his little basket, so cute.
Just sitting out in my mum’s garden in the sun looking at all of the bluebells, with the kids playing happily, was such a lovely moment of peace and calm.
Squeezing in moments of work around the kids - this looks like getting up early and writing notes for my coaching sessions with my new client, before my kids wake up. This kind of work and these kind of quiet moments before the chaos of the day begins make a huge difference to my mood.
On a family walk having chats with my daughter about hormones, anger and how we all cope differently. We talked about how we can help each other in these moments. This felt huge, something that my mum would never have spoken to me about (different generation, I know), but I hope by being open and honest that this will help her as she gets older. Our chat reminded me of a conversation I had with Jane Mary on Episode 5 of my podcast about our menstrual cycles, Jane really embodies cyclical living.
I’ve really enjoyed reading through the answers coming through for my Motherhood and Creativity interview series, from mums who inspire me here on Substack and beyond. If you’d like to be part of this interview series, just email me (jennafolarin@gmail.com) and I'll send you all of the details. You can read the first interview in this series from the lovely Lauren Barber here:
We've been spending more time in the garden lately (when it's not been raining or hailing that is!). I love seeing the bluebells and primroses at the bottom of our garden. The white blossom is just coming in on our pear tree, with the pink blossom on our apple tree coming a little bit later.
I love it when the kids make up an imaginary game and they just play for ages outside. Their game gets more and more elaborate and they always rope in my youngest to play too - he has no clue what is going on, but likes to get involved anyway!
I was also blown away by the amount of re-stacks I had on my note about nearly having 100 subscribers. Thank you to everyone who re-stacked my note - I’m happy to say that I’ve now got over 100 subscribers! Hello to my new subscribers and thank you so much for being here and being part of this lovely community ❤️.
Book chat
I've been reading lots lately, mostly binge reading Elle Kennedy books on my Kindle and I found a few in the library too.
We had a quick trip to the library earlier this week and I was happy to get these books:
I didn’t realise Freya North had a new book out, I loved ‘Little Wing’, her last book so I was happy to find this new one on the shelf.
Talking of books, I really enjoyed being part of this ‘Mother Reader’ interview from
and I especially loved the chat in the comments too with lots of book recommendations in there:
I've also been listening to ‘Radical Compassion’ by Tara Brach on Audible when I'm getting my youngest to sleep at night. I’ve really enjoyed learning more about the practice of RAIN process that she talks about, which is recognising, allowing, investigating and nurturing your emotions and thoughts in tough situations.
Self-compassion is something I talk about a lot on here and to my clients, as I feel it’s such a good coping tool for dealing with the emotional rollercoaster of motherhood.
Substack posts I’ve loved lately
This post from
on the kindling of the inner core... being uncommodifiable... and settling it for yourself, once and for all. I loved this part:“If my core, my centre, my compass is un-fed, un-watered, un-nourished, all of the extraneous, external elements of my being, wobble.
Give me a week away, by the sea, a book in hand and pen in the other, and I come back to my self. I eat, move, sleep, think, nourish myself well. And she returns to me… the ME I know myself to be, from beneath the waves, unwavering.”
This post from
on how tending to ourselves, understanding our window of tolerance, and breathing can shift how we are in motherhood. I loved this part:& are running a Holding Stories Spring Gathering on Sat 20th April at Fire and Alchemy in London:“So, here is my invitation to you, let’s build a bigger basket together.
Let’s focus our attention on what we can control. How we show up, how we move through our day, how we respond, how we take care of ourselves when we have those few minutes of space to do so.
Let’s release the idea that to be a good parent is to be a calm parent and turn our attention to building a bigger basket and expanding our window of tolerance.”
It’s a creative spring gathering, a half day writer’s retreat — an opportunity to tend to your own wellspring and to connect to your inner storyteller. You’ll gather with other (Substack) writers and creatives, intentionally devoting time to dreaming and visioning for the season ahead.
Lauren and Lyndsay have created this event with such love ❤️ and I just know it’s going to be an incredible event. If you know any mums who might be interested in going, please share this info with them 🙏.
Thank you so much for reading!
I’d love to hear from you in the comments;
What have been your highlights over the last few weeks?
What have you found tough over the last few weeks?
What Substack posts have you loved recently?
I loved connecting with you via Mother Reader Jenna :)
Your piece made me see the connection between what we read as kids/teens and how this matures into what we like to read as adults! I hadn't drawn the connection between loving Goosebumps as a child to my love of reading a good thriller now as an adult, much like your Sweet Valley High to romance reads evolution :)
Ooo I loved this post Jenna! It’s so nice to hear what you’ve been up to and all these precious moments. I also LOVE when my children manage to get into imaginative mode and are lost in a world of wonderment! It’s amazing how the time passes for all of us when everyone is so fully immersed. I also loved hearing about the chats with your daughter about periods and hormones, so great. I hope we will be helping to nurture a new generation of daughters who are in touch with the wisdom of their cycles xx thanks so much for sharing our Holding Stories gathering too! xx