Hi Reader 👋 -

I went to the Art Institute of Chicago last weekend. There are two special exhibits right now: Salvador Dalí and van Gogh.

I'm always in awe as I stand before such masterpieces. Millions of people have gazed upon such works. I'm lucky that I have access to the museum.

1) Reflection:

Summers are always busy. The kids go to full-day camp, so it's a similar structure to the school year, but we do a lot of activities on the weekends.

I like the bustle of summer but we're so routine-based that it's also exhausting. I feel like there's less time to "get stuff done" that's needed to keep a household running (like mowing the lawn, lol).

If you have a love-hate relationship with the business of summer, I feel you. And much as I want to slow down, slowing down means saying "no" to some of the activities we enjoy — and can only do in the summer when the weather is warm.

2) Product:

My kids always want to know what's going on. So we have a giant dry-erase calendar and I write down our planned events.

Honestly, it's kind of annoying since everything is in our family Google Calendar. But the kids can visually see the whiteboard and know what's upcoming. My middle child reminds me to change the calendar at the beginning of every month. He WANTS TO KNOW what is happening.

3) Tip:

Ever since my kids were little, we've had Collective Family Quiet Time on the weekends. It began when my second son transitioned to one nap per day and we realized that we could get both kids to nap simultaneously. Then both parents would nap. It was glorious.

As the kids got older, the parents didn't want to give up our nap time. So we told the kids that if they didn't nap, they needed to play quietly in their rooms so we could nap. Now, as a family of five, we have Quiet Time in the house from 12:00 to 3:00 pm every weekend. We even plan activities around Quiet Time, if possible. (I also take naps most weekdays.)

I tell every new parent to do this. You'll never regret having that break in the day — even as your kids get older.

That's it for this issue of Tinkering! See you again in two weeks.

Cheers,

Anna Burgess Yang

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→ Frozen Out of a Job | I started a new series on my Substack, letting people share their worst work stories via interview

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