Tidy Tidbits

This week I’m joined by bestselling author Jo Piazza to celebrate the release of her newest novel, The Parisian Heist. Our conversation starts with a simple question: Is it ever okay to steal? From there, we dive into the real-life story of Jo Van Gogh, the woman responsible for transforming Vincent van Gogh from an overlooked artist into one of the most celebrated painters in history. We also explore how storytelling, branding, and preserving someone’s legacy can become a kind of heist of their own.
If you enjoy strong female characters, fascinating historical details, and page-turning suspense, The Parisian Heist is for you! Add this one to your summer reading list.
Connect with Jo Piazza:
* Instagram: @jopiazzaauthor
* Podcast: Under the Influence
* Substack: Over the Influence
* Learn more about The Parisian Heist and tour dates at theparisianheist.com.
* Also read Jo’s books The Sicilian Inheritance and Everyone is Lying to You
More from Tidy Dad:📚 Preorder the paperback version of Tidy Up Your Life🗞️ Subscribe to The Tidy Times: tidydad.substack.com📸 Follow along on IG: Tidy Dad


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tidydad.substack.com/subscribe

It’s time to order the paperback version of the “original, whimsical, and altogether practical,” Tidy Up Your LIFE book! In print August 4th. Grab your copy of Tidy Up Your Life today!
Tidy Up Your Life is about more than organizing your home. It’s about building routines and systems that help you navigate the inevitable messes of everyday life.
Today’s episode is about one of those messes: teaching kids how to actually get clean.
This is a Tidy Tidbits Replay that I originally shared last summer, and it’s just as relevant today. Our New York City bathtub may be tiny, but the parenting lesson it inspired is anything but.
In this episode, I’m taking you into bath-time chaos and sharing why our family created Shower School, a simple system for teaching kids how to wash themselves well, build independence, and make one small part of parenting a whole lot easier.
We’ll cover:
* 🚿 The difference between relaxing and really cleaning your body
* 🧼 Why just saying “Take a shower!” might not mean much
* Our official “Shower School Steps”!
🛁 Download the Shower School Steps checklist, a visual guide you can laminate and hang in the shower! Perfect for kids learning how to actually get clean (not just wet).
More from Tidy Dad:
📚 Preorder the paperback version of Tidy Up Your Life
🗞️ Subscribe to The Tidy Times: tidydad.substack.com
📸 Follow along on IG: Tidy Dad


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tidydad.substack.com/subscribe

Our family started our summer break this week! Whenever life changes and transitions happen, I think it’s worth asking: How do we stay connected?
This spring I took twelve graduate credits to move up to the final salary step as a teacher. One of my courses focused on building classroom culture, and it made me realize something. Teachers spend a lot of time thinking about how to help students talk to one another, reflect together, solve problems, and build community.
Why wouldn’t we think about our families and friend groups the same way?
I’m talking about simple conversation structures, little rituals that help everyone talk, laugh, reflect, and know one another a little better.
Today I want to share four simple family meeting ideas that have become part of our family’s rhythm. We need opportunities to listen, reflect, laugh, disagree, practice taking turns, and keep getting to know the people we’re living life alongside.
Because families aren’t built through one big conversation.
They’re built through hundreds of little ones.
Mentioned in this episode: We love this pack of Conversation Cards for Kids
For your next listen: Episode #60: What to Do With All the School Papers
More from Tidy Dad:
📚 Order my book: Tidy Up Your Life
🗞️ Subscribe to The Tidy Times: tidydad.substack.com
📸 Follow along on IG: Tidy Dad


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tidydad.substack.com/subscribe

If you’ve been craving a little more quiet, a little more stillness, or a reminder that you don’t have to keep pace with everyone around you, this episode is for you.
While walking the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain I occasionally pulled out my phone and recorded voice memos. This week on Tidy Tidbits, I’m sharing some of those audio recordings with my personal reflections, complete with the sound of footsteps, birds, wind, and the quiet that made the walk so meaningful.
If you want to learn more about the Camino:
📚 The book that inspired my Camino journey: A Week to Remember: Three strangers, the Camino, One Week to Change Everything by Ruth O’Leary
🎙️ My interview with author Ruth O’Leary, who wrote the book A Week to Remember: Tidy Tidbits Episode #53 - Start Small, Start Messy, Just Start
More from Tidy Dad:
📚 Order my book: Tidy Up Your Life
🗞️ Subscribe to The Tidy Times: tidydad.substack.com
📸 Follow along on IG: Tidy Dad



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tidydad.substack.com/subscribe

This week, I’m turning 40! We’re also celebrating major family milestones, including one daughter graduating from kindergarten and another graduating from elementary school. As Father’s Day and summer break approach, I’m reflecting on this season of life, and revisiting the idea of Surthrival, the space between surviving and thriving. If you’re navigating a surthrival season of your own, this episode is for you!
In this episode, I’m exploring the different seasons of adulthood: building in my twenties, proving in my thirties, and maintaining in my forties. From marathon recovery to family life, I’m sharing why maintaining what matters may be one of life’s most meaningful pursuits. At least for me, in this current season of life.
More from Tidy Dad:
📚 Order my book: Tidy Up Your Life
🗞️ Subscribe to The Tidy Times: tidydad.substack.com
📸 Follow along on IG: Tidy Dad


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tidydad.substack.com/subscribe