Aug 19, 2026 · 5 min listen · Last updated August 19, 2026
From storyflo. This is your daily audio brief. Chloe, August 19th. Quick run through ten health stories — let's start with the longevity piece. Let's get into it. First, from The Notepad from The Mama Notes. How I’m Getting My Sht Together For Fall.
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Daily Parenting Brief · August 19th
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How I’m Getting My Sh*t Together For Fall
I have three school age children who are each playing 2 fall sports. I’m not sure why I set myself up for such stress but alas here we are. I’m trying to do everything I can now to prevent mixups, meltdowns and exhaustion come mid-September! Here’s what I’ve done…. Command station. I’ve really wanted something like this for a while but always felt we didn’t have any spot for it. Enter these peel and stick tiles that create a bulletin board anywhere, any size. I put a giant one in our hallway that we all walk past a million times a day.
Last week was one of the most sacred and arresting times of my entire life. My dad died Thursday. I’m still figuring out what to say about it and to whom. For now, please know how grateful I am to this incredible community for creating a space where I could share the journey and be greeted with such insightful, whole hearted, and cathartic responses. If you haven’t yet met my dad through my writing, you can learn more here, here, and here (and there’s a lot more where that came from in the archive.) A pastiche of what made last week so beautiful:
I walk on stage in a school gym buzzing with fluorescent lights and packed with 350 kindergarteners. They’re incredibly wiggly and chatty, elbowing their neighbors. The noise level in the echo-y room is high. Teachers weave through the chaos, cajoling/commanding/yelling at them to be quiet and hold still. Instantly, curious children turn toward me, and their faces light up. I lead a simple, imitation-based rhythm and movement game, adding in long, deep breaths. In less than a minute, the room is quiet, the energy is focused, and all eyes are on me.
First things first: I’m running a 20 percent back-to-school sale from now through Sunday. Get access to years’ worth of my paid posts for just $5.60 a month or $56/year! When my kids and I visited Maine last week, we went out for ice cream after dinner one night. The shop had board games and playing cards, so we sat and played Blackjack for half an hour after we finished our treats. At one point, a boy — probably around 7 or 8 — walked in with his parents. They ordered ice cream and sat down at the small table next to us.
Mom Confessions: I kept this secret for 6 years, I can't stand my husband, and the reality of breast feeding
Motherhood can be messy, and only focusing on the highlights never made anyone feel less alone! Welcome to Mom Confessions, a space to get the hard stuff off your chest, hear from other moms going through it, and find solace in our shared struggles. Read on for anonymous submissions from moms just like you. “We had decided to wait until our baby was born to find out the sex, but I accidentally saw on a lab report.
Guys I am so, so giddy to tell you all about the inaugural Catskills Book Festival. What started as a whimsical idea after drinking a couple of Kaaterskills, and buying the domain, CatskillsBook Festival.com brought more than a hundred readers out to Westskill Brewing to build community around books this month. There were author talks, book sales, literary tattoos from Thorn Tattoo (someone got the Goosebumps G!), live music, and craft beer from my favorite brewery in the entire world. We had a great piece written up in The Overlook! I love this line from Glynnis from the piece.