January started with our first full sleepover of 2nd graders at our house – the self-described “Ba Club.” It was So.Much.Fun! It’s awesome seeing your kids in the company of their best friends—and we’re so grateful that their friends are such cool, kind, clever kids! In traditional January fashion, we spent some time clearing out the old and making way for the new. I finally (finally) put away all the “Under 3” toys. That was hard – we never had to put them away when they were Josie’s because little Bea was coming along. That little pounding bench, scarred with the bangs of two little Schneiders, will always hit me right in the heart. But, alas, it’s pretty amazing to raise growing-up girls too. We’ve been Annie-obsessed. I took Josie to see the new one and we spent most of the month of January performing songs from the soundtrack in the living room. (Which totally reminded me of doing the same with my family at about the same age Josie is now.) There was ice-skating to celebrate a little friend’s birthday. Lots of creative play indoors thanks to cold, cold, cold January days—including a restaurant that the girls set up for Lou and I, complete with a detailed menu and made-to-order salads as well as the girls very own first attempt at a youtube playdoh surprise egg toy review video. There were the end-of-season winter swim meets (GO JOSIE!!!), another sleepover with buddies, a 500 piece puzzle, lots and lots of dancing, a surprisingly warm January day that necessitated a trip to the zoo, a mother/daughter book club meeting, a Two Schneiders night out at Myrtle’s Punch House, dress-up and make-up, home pedicures, new kitchen island construction, and lots of good ole’ fashion goofiness and goodness around Casa De Schneider. In other news, the line between my personal and professional life continues to blur in the best way possible as we kicked off the Smart Parents blog and book project and I’ve begun to share some of our personal family practices on Getting Smart and our Huffington Post blog!
