I Thought I Was Launching an Audio Story…I Think I Started Something Bigger

If you somehow missed it in between end-of-school chaos, snack packing, field trips, sports schedules, and trying to remember whether spirit day was today or tomorrow 😅…

I recently launched something I’ve been quietly building behind the scenes:

Little by Little™ is a children’s bedtime audio story, paired with a parent guide and support audio, designed to help children build confidence around independent sleep through storytelling.

And if I’m being honest, I pictured launch week looking very different.

Maybe sitting at a coffee shop with a laptop, soaking in the excitement while my creation went out into the world.

Maybe crying happy tears while messages and purchases rolled in. Very cinematic.

Instead, my launch week looked more like:

• Costco runs
• dog walks
• Huckleberry work
• packing lunches
• re-recording audio
• showering at noon
• and sitting at my daughter’s 8:00am dentist appointment 😅

Honestly though, I think I love that more.

Because Little by Little wasn’t built during some magical season where I suddenly had endless time and a perfectly clear schedule.

It was built in the middle of regular life.

The middle of parenting.

The middle of work.

The middle of feeling excited one minute and questioning everything the next.

The middle of wondering whether what I was creating would actually connect with families.

And then something happened that caught me off guard.

Children Started Stepping Into The Story

I expected children to enjoy the story. I hoped they would connect with it.

What I didn’t expect was watching them immediately start making it their own.

My 9-year-old nephew suddenly wanted to write his own story and HAS begun.

My niece immediately looked at one of the stories my daughter and I were creating and said:

“That’s me and Rae!” (Even though it wasn’t actually about them at all 😭)

My own daughter has repeatedly asked if we can act out Little by Little and record it ourselves. Not just: “Read it again.” Not just:“I like Ellie.” She wanted to become part of it.

And that stopped me for a minute.

Because I realized something: Kids don’t just hear stories. They step into them. They carry them into their play. Into their imagination. Into the way they make sense of the world around them.

As adults, we often think: “I read them a story.”

Meanwhile, children are over there thinking**: “I AM the story.”**

I Think This Became About More Than Sleep

For a while now, I’ve had moments where I’ve wondered: “What exactly am I building?”

I’ve spent years helping families through sleep coaching, creating courses, writing toolkits, and supporting parents.

But this felt different.

Little by Little somehow became this unexpected collision of everything I love: Early childhood. Sleep support. Creativity. Storytelling. Helping children build confidence.

And while I thought I was launching a product, I think I may have stumbled into something bigger. Not in some dramatic, “change everything overnight” kind of way.

Just in a quiet:“Oh…there’s something here.” kind of way.

A Reminder For Parents

Children process the world differently than we do.

Sometimes bedtime routines aren’t just routines.

Sometimes stories aren’t just stories.

Sometimes what looks small to us becomes something really big to them.

Whether it’s through play, connection, stories, or learning a new skill, children often understand things by stepping inside them.

Maybe that’s one reason stories can feel so powerful.

Not because they’re being told what to do.

But because they get to experience it.

And honestly, I think that’s pretty magical 🤍

If you’re looking for a bedtime story children can connect with while gently building confidence around sleep, you can explore Little by Little™ HERE.

P.S. My daughter has been absolutely relentless about me writing an adventure story next 😅 So naturally we started creating one together… and somehow I immediately went from “fun adventure” to “wait… this could also become a teaching moment about fears.” Apparently I really can’t help myself. There’s always a lesson hiding somewhere 😂