Tag Archive | Ashley Spires

Tidy Up Tuesday – Vol. 5 + REVIEW: The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires

Today I won’t be talking about the Spark Joy/KonMari tidying up. Today I’m talking time management tidying up. (And also sharing a review of a great kids book!)

Who else is dreadful with time management? I know I am. I need firm deadlines. If I don’t have a deadline, it’s possible it won’t get done. That goes for all aspects of my life, including housework.

To help in my tidying up goal, I made myself a little chore calendar. It’s a rotating 4 week schedule. On the back I have a few monthly tasks with room to add more as I think them up. I started yesterday, and though I didn’t complete all of the tasks, I feel really good about the progress I’ve made. As my house gets cleaner and it becomes more maintenance than deep cleaning, I’m hoping this comes easier to me. I’ve never been so excited and optimistic about cleaning! And my kids were even eager to help!

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I “laminated” my list by placing it in a plastic sleeve and I’ve got a dry erase marker to check off the list as I finish. Each day I erase the daily list checkmarks and I start anew the next day.

Soon I hope to make similar schedules for my work life. (And personal. Forcing myself to exercise needs to be a priority!)


KID’S CORNER – BOOK REVIEW

The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
Read: March 18, 2016
Format: ARC Ebook (EPUB)
My Book Rating: 5 Stars
Genre: Children’s Picture Book

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the BEST children’s books I’ve read in a while. My four year old daughter loved it so much, we read it twice, back to back.

This is the story of a little girl who likes to make things. She comes up with an idea for the most MAGNIFICENT thing EVER. She gathers materials and begins working, but nothing she creates is as wonderful as the idea in her head. She starts to get really frustrated and mad. Her “assistant” (her dog) “suggests” they take a walk. And after walking away from the situation that is frustrating her, she gains a new perspective and realizes that all of her not-perfect things can be dismantled to become her most MAGNIFICENT thing. And in the end, even though she realizes her MAGNIFICENT thing isn’t quite right, she’s very happy with the results and I’m pretty sure, after the story ends, she’s going to keep tinkering until it’s perfect.

I love this story for a few different reasons.

1. This little girl is an engineer! My daughter loved that this girl could make these things and now she wants to be an engineer! (Yay! Girls and science!) This book would work with a boy or a girl, but I love that it’s a girl because the STEM fields need more girls and this book shows little girls that it’s okay to want to be something other than a princess. (Confession, I’m 31 and I still want to be a princess…. but I also want to be an archaeologist.)

2. There’s a good life lesson in this story. Try, try again! And then keep trying! Step back, take a break, and look at things in a new way. And even when you reach your goal, think about more ways to make it even better.

3. The pictures are very cute, and the story is told in a fun, easy to read way. The language is clear, concise, and expressive, making it great for reading aloud.

4. The MAGNIFICENT thing the girl makes is very clever and practical, seeing the finished product was my daughters favorite part of the story.

I would love to see this book in classrooms and I plan on reading it with my almost nine-year old daughter this weekend. She’s already very interested in making things, so I think she’ll really enjoy this story.

This is a must read for boys and girls, and entertaining for parents as well. There are no flaws in my opinion and this may just end up under the Christmas tree from Santa, or on a birthday wish list!