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Hey friends! This week brought delayed birthday parties, Facebook Marketplace drama, and the moment Jordan discovered his true calling as a doll dealer.

And congrats Kara B… we took a vote as a family and ‘Chicken Mump’ (for Chipmunk) was our favorite Evie-ism from last week. Send me your address, something sweet coming in the mail.

This past week in a minute:

We finally threw Lacey's birthday party... almost three weeks after her actual birthday 😬. Summer makes it nearly impossible to wrangle her besties and family all at once, but we pulled it off. A sweet summer picnic with parasols ☂️, croquet, and tiny sandwiches. Nothing too crazy... until Jordan revealed his little surprise.

He comes barging in right after presents with ducklings in TUTUS. Ahhhh! Check out the magic HERE.

The kids absolutely lost it. But it immediately backfired when everyone rushed him at once, desperate to squeeze the poor things. Immediate regret and pure joy, all rolled into one chaotic moment.

Facebook Marketplace adventures I don't know about y'all, but we love a good Facebook Marketplace find. This week's saga started when I sent Jordan to pick up some American Girl dolls. He rolls down his window, tips his sunglasses, and says to the seller, "You got the stuff?"

The poor woman looked genuinely nervous before finally catching the joke. Later, Jordan tells me, "It's always been my dream to negotiate dolls with strangers in a Walmart parking lot." 😃

But the real adventure? The table pickup for my studio. I thought I had everything lined up, but the seller switched locations last minute, then completely ghosted Jordan when he arrived. Then she sends this blurry map image with a giant three-block circle labeled: MEET HERE.

I'm already dying laughing as I forward it to Jordan. He fires back instantly: "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!!?"

Then... radio silence.

Minutes later, instead of calling to vent, he casually reports a miraculous sighting: the sellers walking down the road carrying the table to his truck ‘like two weird pallbearers. I think I just witnessed a side table funeral!’ …. Victory! I guess 🤷‍♀️?

Your turn… share your best Marketplace fails with me. I need to know we're not the only ones living this chaos.

Also, this reminds me of this little gem (fair warning on the language — don't watch with little ears around… but too good not to share):

Maybe I will make my own PG version of this someday?

 — Tabitha Paige, Author/ Illustrator, Speech Therapist & Mom

In the kitchen

Need something to keep your toddler entertained while actually building real life skills? We've been working on knife skills with Evie lately, and it's been such a game changer.

This is something we started with Lacey too, but honestly? We wish we would have started even sooner. You know how it is… the moment you start chopping vegetables, suddenly every child in the house appears out of nowhere, desperate to "help." They want to do exactly what mama's doing, which is sweet... until you realize they're eyeing your very sharp, very dangerous kitchen knife.

That's where these amazing toddler knives come in.

They're designed specifically for little hands, dull enough to be safe but still functional enough to actually cut soft foods (think knife meets safety scissors). We'll give Evie a cucumber, some strawberries, or maybe a banana, and she'll go to town for a solid 30 minutes. Sometimes longer if I'm lucky!

The concentration on her face is priceless. She gets so focused, so proud of each little slice. And the satisfaction when she's done? Pure joy. "Mama, look what I made!" It's building genuine life skills while keeping her busy and engaged.

We started around age 2 with both girls, just with supervision and softer foods. Now Evie can handle firmer vegetables, and Lacey has graduated to helping with actual meal prep. It's amazing how much confidence it builds.

The safety aspect was my biggest concern at first, but these knives really are designed well. Obviously, we're still right there supervising, but the risk is so much lower than regular knives, and the learning is so much higher than just giving them a toy.

If you try this with your littles, start with something super soft like bananas or cooked sweet potatoes, then work your way up. And if you have any other toddler kitchen tools that have been winners in your house, send them my way! Always looking for new ways to get the kids involved safely. Grab a set for your kids!

Screen time recommendation

Audiobooks on the TV — hear me out on this one.

We discovered this little hack during a tough postpartum season when screen time got... well, way more out of hand than we wanted. We've been in the slow weaning process for months now, and this has been a game changer.

Our kids already love audiobooks, but sometimes even putting Evie in front of an iPad feels like too much screen. So we started putting audiobooks on our big TV instead. She'll sit there and "watch" her story for an hour or more — starting out staring at the single picture (usually something sweet like Winnie the Pooh), but then gradually losing interest in the visual and just listening while she colors or plays quietly nearby.

It's the perfect bridge between screen time and pure audio. She gets the cozy feeling of a story without the overstimulation, and I get a peaceful house. Try it if you're trying to dial back screens but still need that magic "kids are quiet" moment we all desperately need some days.

Ta ta for now! - Tabitha

Sometimes I make books & other pretty things…