Looking for something screen-free to hold your kids’ interest for a little while? Whether you’re spending some quiet time at home or on a long car ride, these audiobooks for kids are sure to capture their imaginations and foster their love of reading.

We were at the library a few months ago when my older daughter noticed a wall lined with audiobooks. “What are those?” she asked, wondering why the DVDs were in weird cases and not with the rest of the movies. When I explained them to her, she was immediately intrigued and picked out one to listen to in the car.

Believe it or not, I had never listened to a book on tape before that. Lots of the ladies in our virtual book club are borderline obsessed with them (sort of like me with podcasts), but I was still an audio virgin.

At first, I wasn’t so sure how Ellie would feel about audiobooks. She’s still in preschool and the books we began picking were all chapter books (I only had one rule: nothing that would scare her. Sorry, Harry Potter). I wasn’t sure how she would feel about the lack of pictures or if they would hold her interest at all.

But let me tell you. Girlfriend is hooked.

We drove down to Long Island this weekend and the hour and a half long car ride was almost completely silent because the girls were so into the story (if you know us, this is no small feat). In fact, Ellie was exhausted but didn’t want to miss anything so she stayed awake. I had to ban the book for the ride home to make sure she slept.

Have you ever tried working out with a kid weaving between your legs? Or climbing on your back? Or (once they’re a little older) critiquing your form?

Let’s be real. Squeezing in a workout when you have kids (especially when they’re on summer vacation and you work from home) can be rough. Routines are thrown off completely and it’s hard enough to just conquer day-to-day tasks. Adding self care in seems like a total luxury.

But it’s not.

I’m a firm believer that if you want something, you’ll make time for it. It might mean cutting out other things that are less important, but if you really want it, you’ll make sacrifices.

This weekend I took the girls to their school to play on the playground and take their scooters around the track. I figured I’d get a nice walk in while they were doing their scooting. Um, wrong. If there’s anything all these years of motherhood should have taught me, it’s that nothing goes as planned. Ever. Ellie wandered slowly, dragging her scooter along beside her at a snail’s pace, while her sister sped around the track like there was Olympic gold at the end.

As we inched along, I got frustrated about not getting in the little bit of physical activity I thought was a given. But I quickly shifted my perspective before becoming full on doom and gloom.

I couldn’t walk briskly. So what? My meandering littlest one was happy as could be and I’d just have to make the most of it. Instead of rushing her along, I started doing lunges next to her. She found this incredibly amusing and so did her sister. We were all happy.

Why don’t I do things like that more often?! Being a mother means being a master of manipulation. You take the situation you’re presented with and you make it work.

These 11 Earth Day books for kids are the perfect tools for reaching your children to be kind to the environment. With themes like recycling, activism, and the beauty of nature, these stories encourage kids to love our planet and to think twice about how their actions might affect the environment.

“Can’t you just use a wipe?” I asked my seven-year-old, who was reaching for a too-high towel to clean up her mess while I was in the middle of cleaning up a different mess.

“No,” she said, with a lot of confidence for someone who was talking to a mother in the middle of so many messes. “They’re not reusable and that’s bad for the environment.”

I stared at her for a second, a tiny bit awestruck, before dropping everything and helping her get the towel. Score one for the mess maker. And score one for mom too, while we’re at it. Moments like this one are what make me realize that all of the behaviors I try to model do seep into those little brains. They see it over and over and over again until they’re doing it too.

It also helps to read stories that enforce what I’m trying to teach them. Instead of just rolling their eyes at another Life Lesson from Mom, my girls suddenly see that I’m not the only one who thinks or feels or acts a certain way.

These 11 books are perfect for Earth Day, but they’re also perfect for raising eco-conscious humans who think twice about their impact on the environment.

Call me hippie-dippie, call me Earth Momma, call me whatever, but I happen to think it’s kind of important to take care of this little planet we live on. And I think it’s incredibly important to teach our kids the same thing.

Like adults, kids totally tune out when you start lecturing them on the evils of littering or the dangers of water pollution. No one wants to be preached at. Instead, I like to fall back on the same rule of thumb I go by when it comes to teaching kids to be giving: make it fun and make it a normal part of their life.

If your kids see you throwing used bottles into the recycling bin regularly, they’ll start doing it too. If they watch you throw garbage out of your car window, they’ll do that instead. If you make a conscious effort to be environmentally friendly and to value nature and all of the little critters that live in it, your kids will be right there with you.

That said, it doesn’t hurt to model that behavior in a way that’s really fun. I put together a list of 20 kids activities to try out this Earth Day—or any day.

I’m not going to straight up tell you I’m cheap, but I’m most definitely… thrifty. If there are ways to save money on something, I generally have spent far too much of my time finding them. To compensate, I thought I’d share them here so that I can say that I spend so much time on these things because they save me money and they’re work. Two for the price of one!

So here are eight of my favorite sneaky ways to save some cash.

1. Make your own cleaning products.

For serious. Instead of spraying toxic chemicals on the countertops your kids are sure to lick (oh wait, that’s just mine?), you can easily make your own equally effective cleaners for a fraction of the price—and quickly. I promise they work and I promise you’ll want to hug me once you try it. Whether you clean with lemons or use other green cleaning recipes (and let’s not forget ditching the shampoo), you can save a serious chunk of change.

2. Cash in on birthdays.

Birthdays can get expensive. But did you know there are a ton of places that are willing to give you free stuff on your birthday (or on your kid’s birthday)? One of our favorite things to cash in on is a free cupcake at the cafe at Barnes and Noble through their B&N Kids’ Club. We also loved claiming free birthday sundaes at Friendlys before our local chain closed. The Penny Hoarder has a list of 100 places that will give you free stuff on your birthday. I’m definitely going to take note of a few I didn’t know about for when Samantha’s birthday rolls around in June!