I’m currently thinking a lot about “Golden Hours” — the time after work and before bed on weekdays. This is the subject of my next book (out in March 2028) and I’m working on the manuscript and research and such.

As part of that I am, naturally, paying attention to my Golden Hours! These feel longer in summer than during the school year. We don’t have to get to bed quite as early because the wake-ups aren’t as early (I set my alarm for 7:30 a.m. this morning). The time is also a bit more open for me as we have fewer kid evening activities and neither of my choirs is running during the summer. During peak singing weeks during the year I’d have rehearsals Monday and Thursday. So that would be my Golden Hour activity (with, perhaps, a bit of reading before bed). But not now.

Anyway, Monday night I helped my 11-year-old get started packing for sleep-away camp. This is always a process to make sure we have everything available, labeled, etc. This year he is also bringing a supply of microwave mac and cheese, applesauce packets and protein cookies. I guess you can bring some food and he has very limited foods he will eat and this seems unlikely to change. I ordered some things we were missing (Extra D batteries, a foam mattress topper – though now I have two because it looked like the first got delayed, so I canceled it and ordered another, and then they both showed up the next day…). Then we went in the pool + hot tub from 7:30-8:45 or so. I got my little guy into bed, and then I worked on my new puzzle for 45 minutes (which I am now closing in on finishing!).

On Tuesday it was rainy and I was mostly on my own in the evening. I did my puzzle while the kids were on screens and then I read for about an hour before bed.

On Wednesday I took the kids to Rita’s for water ice + gelati – we were in the car at 7 and home by about 7:35. I turned on the pool and we went in for just about 20 minutes or so – a quick one. I read a bit after putting the little guy to bed and more or less crashed.

Last night after dinner I went out in the yard for a bit and just watched the golden light on the grass – so pretty, and the temperature was perfect – like 77 degrees. Then we went in the pool + hot tub for an hour. I read in bed for an hour after putting the little guy to bed (my husband read to him for a while and then sat with him until he went to sleep).

On to this week’s content! I’m still doing promotion for Big Time. I was on the Parents at Work podcast with married couple hosts Lori Mihalich-Levin and Jason Levin this week. Please check that out! It was a fun conversation.

I was also featured in Ron Friedman’s email newsletter this week – he’s been a guest on Before Breakfast a few weeks ago. To learn more about Ron, just go here.

And I was a guest on Amy Schmidt’s The Right-Sized Life, which you can find here. I’m definitely still looking for opportunities to share the message of Big Time, so let me know if you have ideas. And if you haven’t picked up a copy… please do! If you have, and enjoyed the book, I would so appreciate if you’d write a review (ideally on the website of whatever retailer you bought the book from — if you bought it at an indy or read from the library, please review it on Goodreads!).

Over at Before Breakfast I interviewed Ryan Hawk, author of The Price of Becoming, about how to keep getting better at what you do. In the short episodes I talked about “The more you send” — how to turn down the volume on email, and why you should “Describe a typical Tuesday” if you’re thinking about any big life changes.

Over at Vanderhacks, my Substack newsletter, I did a Q&A with DJ DiDonna, author of “Big Time Off” — not to be confused with Big Time, but definitely a fascinating look at how people spend time. His book is all about sabbaticals, and how and why to take one. He even talks about unintentional sabbaticals, and making the most of them.

I also wrote about “Many unknowns are known unknowns.” A lot of the little things that go awry in life can be anticipated and planned for. Maybe not the big ones, but little things like traffic and rain! I also write a tip from DJ to “Pick a time to start worrying.” Sometimes it’s hard to stop worrying about something, but you can decide that you will truly face the problem at some point in the future when it becomes more relevant.

Behind the paywall I wrote about “11 little summer memories you can still make.” I also wrote about “Your 5-year travel plan: Where will you go?” I listed some of the places I want to see and readers are chiming in with theirs. Please consider a free or paid subscription!

You might also consider joining me and Sarah Hart-Unger over at the Patreon community for Best of Both Worlds. This week we’ve been discussing summer reading, making your phone less attractive, people’s favorite 15 minute meals + what they do to prep for the week on Sundays, and a check-in thread for things people said they’d do this summer. This is a great alternative to social media – membership is $9/month, and being a closed community contributes to a positive sharing atmosphere.

Thank you for supporting me and my work.

Laura Vanderkam

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