Sandy Bastien of New Windsor juggles a lot in her day to day life. She’s a mother of five, an inventor, an entrepreneur, a teacher, and an author. And she’s just launched her third children’s book, I Am Mad. Is That Bad?

 

Bastien was inspired to try her hand at writing children’s books by her experience at the Newburgh Armory. Bastien started volunteering at the Armory teaching the ‘Dare to be a Wild Reader’ program, but she almost didn’t take the position. She said “I was offered to teach the reading class and I hesitated because as a child I did not like reading…It turns out to be one of the best things that I did, because as I was teaching these children, it’s as if the children were helping me realize why I didn’t like reading.” She wanted the children in her class not to view reading as something that they had to do for school, but as something they did to better themselves. She said “I wanted them to realize that reading was a way of self development, reading was something they did for themselves.”

 

Her son was the inspiration for her first children’s book Is it Saturday Yet?, published in 2019. Bastien’s son was a student at the Armory, and she said “Every Saturday morning he would wake up asking me ‘Mommy is it Saturday yet, is it Saturday?’ He was so excited about Saturdays, I wanted to capture that moment for him in a story.” The book centers on an experience that many children in the area can relate to, spending weekends at the Newburgh Armory.

 

Her second children’s book is based on another personal story. Bastien invented and sells the BabLid baby bottle, a baby bottle with a cap that snaps to the bottom of the bottle when not in use. The idea came from her own struggles when her children were young. “I lost a lot of baby bottle lids. I’m a mom of five, I have five children and I bottle fed all my children, so when I lost my lids I would have to buy new bottles just to replace the lids.” Bastien said “It was like a cycle, I kept on buying bottles, and kept on losing the lids and had to buy more bottles to replace the lids.” The book she wrote about it is called ‘Mommy’s Invention Adventure: The Messy Spill’.

 

This business has grown into an online storefront called Momhood Shop focused on motherhood related products, including the bottle and Bastien’s books. Currently Bastien’s products are the only ones available on the store, but she plans to include products created by other mothers in the future. She said “I’m looking for other mom creators and putting them on that website so they can sell their products and they can also tell their stories.” Currently, Bastien is looking into mothers involved with the Women’s Enterprise Action Leadership Fund, a nonprofit that mentored her and provides interest free loans to women looking to start businesses.

 

Her newest children’s book is called I Am Mad. Is That Bad?’ The book teaches children about their emotions, especially anger, and how to deal with them. Bastien said she wrote it because “As a child we’re taught you shouldn’t be mad…but never understanding what to do with being mad. Because mad is actually a normal emotion, but what we do with mad is what makes the difference.”

 

Bastien’s authorial career isn’t limited to just children’s books. She’s written two books for adult readers based on her own experiences, and just started work on a third. The book has the working title of ‘Motherhood Raises Women Too’. Bastien said “A lot of women right now, they are thinking I have to abandon myself or I have to give up my life. I have to lose myself in order to become a mother, and my mission and purpose in life is to teach other women that they are able to grow within motherhood.”

 

Bastien will be holding a book launch for her newest book at the Motorcyclepedia museum at 250 Lake Street on Thursday, August 27th at 5:30 p.m.