Surviving the Witching Hour + Our New Favorite Book
I’m excited to have partnered with Scholastic today for this post on our favorite way to get through long afternoons and the witching hour š
I think the only way we survived the first winter of two under two last year was regular afternoon dance parties. When four o’clock hit and we still had a solid two and a half hours to go ’till bedtime, including the witching hour with no chance of Ben being home before that, we’d crank up some tunes and dance it out in the living room.
Now, our living room here in Boston is noticeably smaller than it was in Ohio… and it isn’t nearly as cold as it’s going to be in a few months, but we’ve still been surviving on afternoon dance parties. We don’t crank the music quite as loud and try to minimize the jumping off of couches (I still need to make our downstairs neighbors cookies), but the dance parties are just as fun.
Last week we added a new book to our shelf that we’ve been using to kick off our dance parties, Groovy Joe: Disco Party Countdown by Eric Litwin and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld. Lincoln loves rocking out tothe original Groovy Joe song, “Disco Party Bow Wow!” as we read and I like that in addition to introducing the concepts behind adding, it emphasizes being inclusive and making room for new friends. (The song can be downloaded on the Groovy Joe website!)
Groovy Joe is totally fun.
He’s a tail-wagging, song singing party of one!
And he rocks like this:
Disco party bow wow!
The book was just released on September 12th and we’ve already read it enough times that Lincoln can do the knock knock part all by himself and I catch him singing “Disco Party Bow Wow” as he dances around throughout the day š
Earlier last week instead of just reading the book, we put together a spread of treats to enjoy together during the witching hour and after our dance party. It was super simple – just some crackers and yogurt covered pretzels on a little cake stand. But sometimes it’s just dressing up the everyday moments a little bit that makes things more fun.
a bit more about the book:
#1 New York Times bestsellers Eric Litwin (Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes) and Tom Lichtenheld (Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site) are back again in another groovy story that will have little ones singing, dancing, and learning math to a whole new beat.
In his second book, Groovy Joe has a dance party. But Oh no! More and more doggies are knocking on his door, asking to come in. Will there be enough room for everyone? Joe knows just what to do and soon enough he everyone moving and grooving — the party has only just begun! Signature rhyme, repetition, and musical writing style, combined with wild and witty illustrations infused and gentle math concepts come together to create an unforgettable new Groovy Joe story all about positivity, creativity, math, and kindness. Groovy Joe is back, ready to get groovy!
Sounds fun, right? You can also download the “Disco Party Bow Wow” on the book’s site to kick of your post-reading dance party š
So, tell me, what is your favorite way to get through a long afternoon and the witching hour?
Any books you and your kids are loving right now?
And wayy too many more pictures:
^a toddler dance party – we’ll call this “the airplane” 
^taking a little dancing break 
^back at it 
^I’m already dreaming of the day we can ballroom dance as a family and they’ll be the sweetest little dance partners 
^super simple snacks and Lincoln’s favorite fake succulents 
