June Naptime Notes
Baby Watch, swim lessons, and swiss chard
Summer is in full swing here at the Langr house. We just wrapped up two weeks of swim lessons for the girls—their second year at the neighborhood pool, just a five-minute walk from our front door. Each morning, we strolled down with towels in hand. The girls slowly worked up their courage to put their faces in the water while William and I chatted with old friends and met new neighbors. It was the perfect, slow start to the summer.
I often imagine the seasons of motherhood that are ahead of me, when kids are older (and stronger swimmers) and can ride their bikes down to the pool for an afternoon of summer leisure. A mom of older kids recently told me how much she loves reading by the pool while her kids play all day. We’re not quite there yet—we’re in the can’t-go-to-the-pool-without-everyone-drowning stage, but someday I’ll enter that poolside reader stage of parenting and it’s going to be glorious.
For now, I’m savoring our slightly slower schedule, especially though things are about to ramp up fast. Baby boy is due in just a few weeks, and William has another surgery on the calendar for late July. Maeve enters into first grade and my two four-year-olds head back to preschool. But today? Today is pools and library trips and summer tans from afternoons teaching the girls to roller skate on our driveway.
At the beginning of the month, Joseph and I snuck out for our monthly date night. We landed at a local brewery that has a fantastic outdoor patio and stage for some live music, dinner, and drinks. We didn’t talk about anything in particular, but enjoyed eating a meal without interruption and sitting in the sunshine. I’m already looking forward to going back after baby boy arrives—there were a few beers on the menu I couldn’t try this time, and they looked delicious.
Aside from swim lessons and some a little bit of a Shakespeare summer, we’re officially on baby watch. I’m doing one last round of deep cleaning next week and besides installing the car seat base, everything is ready for his arrival. He should be here before the next edition of this newsletter hits your inbox, so please keep me, him, and our whole crew in your prayers.
Read on for this month’s song, poem, and book picks—plus a toy that has kept my kids happily occupied for hours!
Songs and podcasts I’ve tuned into:
Books I’ve read this past month:
📕Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell. This is the final title for Well Read Mom’s Year of the Father and I’ve been enjoying it on audiobook. It follows the story of Ruth Hilton, an orphaned seamstress who loses her job and home after she catches the eye of Henry Bellingham. She finds friends in unexpected places, only for Henry to re-enter her life years later.
📕Story of a Poem: A Memoir by Matthew Zapruder. Matthew wants to write a poem as slowly and intentionally as possible. But as he dives into this project, he discovers that it gives him the opportunity the unpack the pain, challenges, and joys of his son’s diagnosis with autism. I’m about halfway through the book and really enjoying Zapruder’s thoughts on creativity and parenting.
Also, Audible set me up with their $3, three-month trial, so I’m collecting audiobook recommendations—drop yours in the comments below!
Books the little Langrs adored this month:
📕The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald. After we finished The Princess and the Goblin, we jumped right into the sequel for our bedtime read-aloud. This book does such a beautiful job telling the story of Curdie and how he grows and matures with the guidance of Irene’s great-great-grandmother.
📕Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story by Tomie DePaola. A beautiful retelling of Cinderella—Tomie’s illustrations are timeless, and this one’s had many re-reads already.
📕Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood. A longtime favorite author in our house. In this story, a mother rescues her seven children after a witch turns them into food. (Also recommended: King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub and The Napping House.)
📕Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall. A Caldecott winner and summer staple. The lyrical prose and gorgeous illustrations make it a frequent request—Maeve and Ada could probably recite it by heart.
📕The Maggie B by Irene Haas. Maeve adores this book about a little girl whose one wish is to sail for one day on a boat named after her “with someone nice for company”. Every other page of the book has colored illustrations, while the rest are in black and white. The details in the illustrations are charming and perfect for summer.
📕My Garden by Kevin Henkes. A little girl helps out in her mother’s garden, but the garden that she imagines for herself is full of chocolate rabbits, massive tomatoes, seashells, and marshmallow trees. We discovered this colorful read at our local children’s literature museum and have read and re-read it ever since!
An eclectic list of things that we’ve loved this month:
I bought this (off brand) set of magnets and every one of the kids could plays with them all afternoon // Cooking with fruits, veggies, and herbs that are in season is one of my favorite things to do and this swiss chard recipe and this salmon bowl recipe were hits with everyone // Joseph started up a ginger bug and we’ve been making prebiotic soda together on Sunday afternoons // I have my eye on this dress for the postpartum and nursing part of late summer //
In case you missed it:
Thanks to our wonderful summer babysitter, I’ve had more time to write! Check out these other posts from earlier this month:
A First Grade Hodgepodge
Years before we started our own homeschool journey, I attended a panel discussion on homeschooling. It was a fantastic conversation, with parents sharing their diverse homeschooling experiences—from classical education to Montessori-inspired homeschools to Charlotte Mason philosophies.
Labor is Change
Six years ago, I walked into the hospital, confident that I was about to give birth to my daughter. I was forty-one weeks pregnant and eager to meet my baby. My due date had come and gone—I’d spent it crying into a chocolate shake in the Sonic parking lot—and I was more than ready. Ready to meet my baby. Ready for pants that didn’t have an elastic pane…
A quote I’m pondering:
The inmost significance of the exaggerated value which is set upon hard work appears to be this: man seems to mistrust everything that is effortless; he can only enjoy, with a good conscience, what he has acquired with toil and trouble; he refused to have anything as a gift.
- Josef Pieper, “Leisure: The Basis of Culture”
A poem to leave you with:
“The Garments of God” by carmelite poet Sister Miriam (Jessica Powers) captured so many things I’ve learned about prayer through St. John of the Cross lately. I’m looking forward to reading a collection of her work this summer!
God sits on a chair of darkness in my soul. He is God alone, supreme in His majesty. I sit at His feet, a child in the dark beside Him; my joy is aware of His glance and my sorrow is tempted to rest on the thought that His face is turned from me He is clothed in the robes of His mercy, voluminous garments – not velvet or silk and affable to the touch, but fabric strong for a frantic hand to clutch. and I hold to it fast with the fingers of my will. Here is my cry of faith, my deep avowal to the Divinity that I am dust. Here is the loud profession of my trust. I need not go abroad to the hills of speech or the hinterlands of music for a crier to walk in my soul where all is still. I have this potent prayer through good or ill: here in the dark I clutch the garments of God.
I hope the rest of your June is full of sunshine, moderately warm summer weather that doesn’t leave you a melted puddle by 10am, and some sweet treats after slow summer days.
As always, thanks for reading along!
In His Sacred Heart,
Chloe
perhaps my favorite audible purchase was Miss Buncle's Book by DE Stevenson...my library didn't have a paper copy and I'd long seen it on Sarah Mackenzie's list of favorite reads. The narration is amazing and the book is a delight. have listened to it 2x!