A couple of months ago, one of the moms in our virtual book club was asking when I started reading chapter books to the girls. The answer was much easier for Ellie than it was for Samantha since I just started dipping my toes into chapter books at bedtime with her (she turned five last month).

Now, I’m not a stick hard and fast to the rules kind of girl. Not every four year old will be able to sit and listen to you read them a chapter. And there might be three year olds who will. You know your kid best. If the little booger will sit through three stories at a time and eats it all up, why not give it a try?

I put together a list of five of our favorite read aloud chapter books for young kids. These aren’t terribly long and there are pictures sprinkled in to help keep your kids’ attention. Plus, each one on this list includes a main character (or two) that your kids can’t help but get attached to.

(And yes, Ellie is wearing a cat costume while looking through books because this is real life and that is what fabulous people do.)

Last Sunday we threw our big community Mad Science party at Big Bang Coffee Roasters in Peekskill. I’m not going to lie, parties like this always make me crazy nervous because a lot of time and energy goes into them and you never really know how many people will actually show up. But I’m happy to say that it was a huge success. I was actually surprised at how many Westchester and Hudson Valley locals came out to see the incredible show!

I was even more thrilled to see that kids and parents alike were completely captivated by the science demo. The cafe was packed and parents in the back were craning their necks to make sure they didn’t miss anything while their kids laughed and squealed up in the front.

Thank you again to everyone who came! I can’t wait to do more fun (free!) local events like this in the future.

For more on our Mad Science party, head over to my post about it on Glamamom.

If you own a business in Westchester or the Hudson Valley and would like to work together on another community event, email me at jen@cuddlesandchaos.com.

Hi. My name is Jen and I’m a sugar addict.

I know some people say that jokingly in an attempt to express their love of desserts. I love desserts. But I’m also completely serious.

When you catch yourself standing in a corner, shoveling candy into your face as quickly as you can before anyone will notice (and not just because that means you’ll have to share), that’s a problem. When you are able to sit there and tell yourself that it’s not a good idea to consume more sugar because you’re already starting to feel sick but you are unable to make yourself stop, that’s a problem. When you’re completely aware that the amount of sugar you’re eating is effecting your skin, your stomach, your mood, your anxiety levels, and your ability to sleep at night but you still can’t stop yourself, that’s a problem.

And that’s exactly where I find myself right now. Toxic. Ashamed. Lacking willpower.

That’s also why I’ve decided to go sugar free throughout all of April.

Getting dressed around here is quite an event. In fact, some days you would swear that these girls of mine were prepping themselves for the Academy Awards. There are wardrobe changes, spritzes of perfume, lip gloss application, and lots of twirling in front of their full length mirror.

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a struggle to get to this point where I just let them be. In fact, it was really, really hard to let go of my control freak tendencies and my desire to have my girls look like they came skipping from the pages of an expensive catalog.

A few weeks ago the girls and I were fortunate enough to attend an incredible event at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville. It was a special preview screening of Academy Award-nominated director Mark Osborne’s latest animated film, The Little Prince, followed by an awesome party at the Media Arts Lab. We had the best time!

Before the screening we got to participate in a special meet and greet with Mark (who lives in Hastings and is a refreshingly down-to-earth, kind human). We saw some of the figures that were used in the stop motion portions of the movie as well as the copy of The Little Prince his wife gave him while they were dating, and the César he recently won in France for the film.

Mark told us that the making of this film was more or less a family affair, which got the interest of this momma’s heart right away. The movie is the story of The Little Prince within a story about a little girl, who was inspired by his daughter. And Mark’s son voiced the Little Prince. My girls thought that was so cool.