August had quite a busy start. We just got back from a whirlwind trip to Minnesota to visit my grandparents and celebrate both of them turning 90 years old this year.

The flights both there and back went much more smoothly than I expected! Michael had his own seat for the first time and very much enjoyed watching Cars with his own headphones and holding Grandpa’s hand. Beatrice slept for 90% of both flights.

It was so special to have my grandparents meet Beatrice for the first time: even more so because one of Bea’s middle names (Margaret) is named for my grandmother.

Having so many family members in the same place at the same time was a blessing. We didn’t quite get everyone — three of the thirteen grandchildren couldn’t make it — but it was a beautiful turnout nonetheless.

As always when my dad’s side of the family gets together, there was much singing and playing of games. Michael and Beatrice were surrounded by “aunties and uncles” (my amazing cousins as well as my aunts and uncles) to hold them and play with them.

It was such a lovely time. I won’t deny it was exhausting: neither kids slept well or for long, and even tiring Michael out in the hotel pool had limited success. But I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

When we returned home, Beatrice turned five months! She’s quite the mover: even though she’s not quite crawling, she rolls and scoots and shimmies very quickly. She’s also often on her hands and knees, rocking, trying to figure out how to crawl so she can keep up with her big brother. She is still working on cutting her bottom two teeth, and she’s learned to screech with incredible volume for such a small baby. She loves her Sophie giraffe teether toy and any of her brother’s cars (much to his chagrin).

So now we are home (just in time for a few more 100+ degree days) and settling back into our routines. Next week the temperatures should finally drop into the high 80s and low 90s, which means we will be able to have more outdoor fun.

I’ve been trying to be more intentional about our daily routines. I’m focusing on our mornings: getting dressed, breakfast, morning prayer, some crafts or activities, and then quiet play in his room til lunch. No screen time before 2 pm is my current rule, and it’s working well for our family. I hope to move it to 4 pm eventually as we find our rhythms and I rely on it less.

Michael is in a phase where he’s enamored with ritual: he wants to do things the exact same way over and over again as he masters them. Integrating rituals into our daily lives has been really good for him in particular.

I’ve been very inspired by an account I found on Instagram (@sasha__dube). Her unhurried and beautiful approach to motherhood and life in general is a breath of fresh air. I especially love her different sensory activities for her toddlers: they’re relatively low-maintenance, clean, and easy to set up. Right before our trip, I ordered some supplies and set up our porch to make these activities easier to facilitate.

It’s a game changer. I have time to eat my breakfast and drink my coffee while he plays and Bea watches or rolls around on her activity mat. Less stressed me, less stressed kids, less stressed day.

Some of the things we’ve done include painting old boxes with washable paint and water, washing animal figurines with soap and paintbrushes, and pompom “soup” with ice cube trays and spoons. I have a bunch of other ideas — some my own and some I’ve compiled from Instagram and other sources — and as we try them out, I’ll let you know how they succeed.

I’ve always been obsessed with productivity and results; always wanted to finish things and finish them well. But parenthood doesn’t fit well into a “productivity” mindset: you’re never truly finished being a mom. There are no boxes to check, no easily definable objectives to meet with multi-step processes to follow. And anyone who has ever been around toddlers or babies knows that conventional definitions of productivity don’t really fit with their approach to the world.

I thought I was a pretty unhurried mother, but the last few weeks have helped me see that I have a lot of unlearning to do when it comes to hurry and busyness. One of the ways I’m trying to do that is by focusing on making good, nourishing, and beautiful meals whenever I can, for both the kids and for me.

It’s easy for me to make my toddler something wholesome and balanced and then just scrounge leftovers or skip breakfast altogether. But I need to slow down for nourishment too. My days go better when I take that time to nurture myself alongside my family.

I’m also going “old school”: we got a CD player for Michael’s room and I borrowed a bunch of CDs from my parents to play during quiet times. It’s really nice to have something physical and separate from my phone to use. It’s less distracting for us both, and less glitchy than Bluetooth. So far, Michael loves Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns and Peter and the Wolf. We also have a few audiobooks like Beatrix Potter and Aesop’s Fables.

Unhurried rituals have started to be the saving grace of this summer. Especially after such a hectic weekend of travel, it’s lovely to be settling back into the embrace of these routines and taking each moment as it comes.