This is the Kos newsletter: warm email notes from a friend. Finding the simple joy in parenthood, bodies, spirituality, creativity, and beauty. Sound like your jam? Subscribe below for weekly notes.
Dear friends,
How are you? How is life? I’m deep in the last week of school class picnics, 5th grade graduation prep, chore charts, and closet organization. Laid off, busy with mom stuff and 50/50 excited/dreading summer vacation.
I’m feeling listy so…
Highlights from the last month:
Seeing a mom unfurl a bag of Carl’s Jr burgers and fries from her backpack in Star Wars Land. I’ll never unsee the excited look on her tween boy’s face and their mutual knowing look.
My kids’ faces in It’s A Small World. My kids’ faces on every ride.
Dancing with two of my sisters and my brother-in-law in a dark loud club atop a giant cruise boat somewhere in the Pacific. Eating shrimp for lunch and dinner, giggling about the ventriloquist or ice skaters together, requiring a couple of hours of quiet every afternoon to re-fuel our introverted sides. Always too full and always taking the stairs. (Thanks Joslynn!)
A three-mile stroller walk with my 4.5 year old. One and half downhill, one and half back up. Serendipitously, the local Forest Preschool class was romping at the park when we got there so he blended perfectly with The Ferale. We ate sandwiches and goldfish then crossed the street to smell gummy bear petals at the Berkeley Rose Garden. Then I pushed him home where every so often I’d hear a contented sigh and he’d say, “This is so fun, mama. I love our stroller walks” and I’d tear up a little because he’s not so little anymore and there aren’t any more little boys behind him. It stirred memories of Seoul and our little adventures together there, and then reminded me of the 11 years of Mom&Boy Adventures stowed deep in my chest. Everyone says it because it’s true: time is a thief. It goes so fast.
Watching Succession with Keenan after the kids were asleep. The cultural commentary on tech and politics, the siblings’ clothes, the ruthlessness, and on and on. It was terrible and fantastic.
Mother’s Day.
New linen bedsheets. I got these in sage green.
Morning walks.
Thoughtful texts from friends.
Snail mail from my mom.
Surprising the boys with tickets to the Super Mario movie in the theater. (I loved it.)
Fresh paint.
(Finally) selling stuff on Facebook marketplace.
A visit from my brother. And my sister in law. Being close to San Francisco has its perks.
Watching my littlest eat yogurt with nowhere else to go and nothing else to do.
Book Talk
What have you read lately? I’m just now climbing out of my 6 month book rut (blame it on work stress) with the Demon Copperhead audiobook. Barbara Kingsolver strikes again!! How?!?! I also listened to The Cloisters but never got into it. Here are a few more on my To Read list:
The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Anatomy by Dana Schwartz
What else should we add to the summer reading list?
If you liked this newsletter, there’s one thing you can do that will help me more than anything: share it. You can share this post now by clicking below. I see and appreciate every like, comment, share, and good vibe. xo Koseli
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow!