I have a book with illustrations of freezing cold landscapes to send you this week. 😊
First, let me tell you about yesterday. It was a winner. Not only did I get to spend most of the day in air conditioning (hello Weaver line and fancy Liverpool Street building), but I got to hear a load of really inspiring mums talking at the MOB Summit.
I was excited to hear about their successes, of course, but what I was really excited about was how often they dropped some mindset or resilience-based chat into their talks.
They all did it.
Every.
Single.
One.
And I was excited about this because it was a great reminder of how powerful this stuff is.
It wasn't their Year 6 SATs results.
It wasn't how easily they can decode and read silently in their head.
It was their ability to bounce back when their first businesses failed.
It was the perseverance they showed in chipping away 10 minutes a day to learn something hard but essential.
And it was the self-belief they held onto, even when things weren't going so well, that kept them moving forward.
But the thing I kept coming back to, sitting in that room, was how many of them talked about changing direction. Pivoting, trying again, admitting the first plan wasn't working.
Not giving up.
Changing course.
As I've banged on about before, we don't know what the future looks like for our kids. But we do know we can set them up with the bendy confidence to navigate whatever it is.
So this week's book felt like an obvious choice. It's my heatwave pick primarily because it involves a lot of snow illustrations, and secondarily because it's about realising you've made a mistake and changing your mind.
Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers
Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers is one of those books I find so calming to read. The reason I've chosen it is that I've been thinking a lot about what it means to change your mind. I'll be honest: I am very capable of decision-paralysis. And the most helpful thing anyone can say to me in those moments is: you can always change your mind.
Now, I'm not talking about deciding the Frozen party is uncool the night before their birthday and demanding Minecraft instead.
But there's something important here. We want kids to persevere AND to know when changing course is the right call.
Those aren't opposites.
Knowing when to adjust is its own skill.
So my light touch this week is just introducing the idea: it's okay to regret a choice and try something different.
Here are the questions I'll be asking my kids:
Stay cool.
Becca x