Dear Jess,

UPDATE 6/6/2019: We discovered the album “Leo Does Children’s Metal Songs”, and it’s been on repeat at our house. FINALLY, a version of Baby Shark that doesn’t make me cringe! We also love dancing to the part of “If You’re Happy and You Know It” where Leo tells us to bang our head 🤘 I’ve added our favorite songs from the album to our Metal Songs for Kids Spotify playlist below!

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I don’t know about you, but with the continuous news coverage about the flu outbreak and a new baby, I’m pretty selective about when we venture into the world. The days when I feel like I’m about to go bonkers if Calvin asks me “Why?!” one more time, we start a dance party and usually both of our moods take a 180 degree turn.

Sure, Uptown Funk for the 100th time in a row is great and all, but I wanted to find some songs more attune to the music I listened to back when my husband and I met in high school. Eric and I knew we were going to hit it off when I asked him what System of a Down song I should feature on my Myspace (…setting up your song was a big deal okay?! Don’t judge). Fast forward, 13 years later and we’ve been to countless rock festivals and concerts together.  So the hunt to expose Calvin to a bit of our world in a non-scary, non-angry way was a fun challenge this week.

Dear Tracy, 

Road Trip! 

Growing up military and then marrying military, means that any family events aren’t just a drive across town. They’re often a drive across several states and I made that drive the first weekend in August for my family’s reunion back in the mountains of Virginia. It’s a date set in stone decades before I was born and if my dad could make the trip across states during his chemotherapy, then in his memory, I could take my son to the reunion. 

Which means when the tiny human was just about 8 months old, he and I drove from Georgia to Virginia and back home again. 

I’m very much about breaking down a trip into multiple days and I have a pretty set rule on my driving versus break routine that I still implement to this day. I would drive two hours, rest an hour, and then drive two more before stopping for the night. (Now that he’s 4 years old, it’s drive 3 hours, rest an hour, and then drive three more.) 

My tiny human has generally been a great traveler, a fact I am very thankful for, but I do my best to facilitate that and when he was just about eight months old I drove 8 hours up to Virginia and 8 hours back down to Georgia and learned some tricks along the way.

Dear Jess, 

Growing up, the best thing (and sadly, one of the only things) about Chinese New Year I remember was getting lai see or red envelopes every year. Lai see is filled with money and given to friends and family as a symbol of good luck. 

Okay, I lied. I remember the food too. There was so much and it’s always so good– it’s hard to forget! If there’s one thing you can guarantee, it’s that you don’t leave without feeling like you’re in a food coma after a Chinese New Year dinner. 

Since I only remember the food and money part of the most important holiday in my culture, I felt a tiny bit guilty about not being able to pass down that knowledge to my kids. I knew there was a ton of folklore and symbolism surrounding this holiday, but I couldn’t recite any of it with any conviction. 

So a few years ago, I started collecting books by Chinese authors. A lot of them dealt with Chinese New Years or the legends surrounding them. Stories like how the Chinese zodiac animals were chosen, the Nian monster, and the meaning behind the many symbols and customs.  I wanted to share my favorite eight books with you, since 8 is the luckiest number in Chinese culture:

Dear Tracy,

Being a military family unit means our extended family lives FAR AWAY. Sometimes, this is a good thing. But, when it comes to travel? Ugh. 

I have traveled a fair bit with the tiny human. (And most of that is solo.) 

3 weeks ago, we hauled our almost 4 year old cross country from the Midwest to the West Coast through the busiest travel season. 

And here are some lessons I learned: 

Dear Tracy,

Today is January 6th and it’s been four years since my father passed away. The tiny human was born January 9th and celebrates his fourth birthday in just three days. 

Which means, four years ago, a few days after my son was born, my brand new little family drove five and a half hours north to attend my father’s services. I chose not to travel for his civilian memorial and instead chose to honor his life dedicated to our country and attend his military honors. 

I do not recommend road tripping with a newborn, but life happens and you need to choose what is best for you and your family.