We have had so many guests on this show, talk about how powerful the outdoors can be for kids, especially kids with ADHD or different ways of learning and processing the world. And if you are raising a child with ADHD dyslexia, a language disorder, or really any kind of learning difference, I want to share a podcast that I think you'll really appreciate. It's called Everyone Gets a Juice Box. It's parents just being honest with each other in a really safe, welcoming space about the highs and lows of raising neurodivergent kids. And what I love about it is is how real it is. There was one story about a mom who had this big career, running a major podcast division, and she realized she hadn't been home to see her daughter before bed for weeks. And at the same time, she was starting to notice these little moments, like her daughter freezing up during a simple preschool performance and just having that gut feeling like

something's different here and then all the doubt that comes with that like other people saying she

seems fine well you're sitting here thinking but i'm her parent and i know her this mom eventually

stepped back in and reconnected and created little games together just to help her daughter communicate

better it's such a good reminder that connection doesn't have to be complicated. It just has to be intentional. So if that interests you, go check it out. To listen, search for Everyone Gets a Juice Box. In your podcast app, that's Everyone Gets a Juice Box. Welcome to One Thousand Hour Outside podcast. My name is Ginny Arton, the founder of 1000 Hours Outside,

and I have just read two books out of, I guess, a whole stack of books. There's more for me to read,

but two books that I absolutely loved. I love memoirs, and I just, oh, I had all the feels in these books.

I read, Here Be Dragons, Treading the Deep Waters of Motherhood, Mean Girls, and Generational Trauma.

And I also read sparkly green earrings, catching the light at every turn. You laugh and you

cry through them. And the author, Melanie Shankle, is here. Welcome, Melanie. Thank you, Jenny. I'm so

excited and happy to be here with you today. Can you talk about all of these books that you've written?

You wrote six books in eight years. Is that correct? Yeah, I did. You know, you wonder sometimes, why am I tired? I think that's why. Why do I have nothing else to say? That's why. Now, I started, so you've read the book in. So, Sparkly Green Eings was my very first book. And yeah, it's my first

book baby. And it came out in 2013, I think. And it was kind of the story from the time I got

pregnant with my only daughter Caroline until I think it ended when she was about eight years old,

because that's where we were. And then I've also written the antelope in the

living room, which is a memoir about marriage. It's funny. It is not a how-to. So just if you're

looking to me for marriage advice, go somewhere else with somebody who, you know, has some letters

behind their name. Then nobody's cuter than you is about friendship, Church of the Small Things,

on the Bright Side, and then Here Be Dragons, which is the one that just came out about a year

ago. It's a total page turner. They're both, the both books that I had, these book

and books are such page turners, and they're really deep, I mean, about the rocky relationships that we have, and yours are especially

rocky. So I would love to talk about your dad. Maybe we could kick it off talking about your dad.

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