Life Lately | November

 Oh boy - so I'm going to jump right into some story telling because November was a parenting doozy. We addressed how babies are made, if Santa is real, and why we only have one kid in our family. And that's just the stuff I remember. I love and value the curiosity, but man, he's not pacified by simple answers anymore. He wants details and I am not qualified for this. 


So, first stop: Santa. Duke B is five years old and for all of those years, I've kept him safely tucked away from outside influences. He goes to school for three months - 3 months! - and already, some asshole big kid told him Santa isn't real. Can you believe?! I'm about get in some 8 year olds face and get all "don't you steal this from me!" as if I'm the victim here. Hypothetically of course, obviously. But I not a mature enough adult to not also give that kid the stink eye. 


We smoothed that one over and luckily, Duke is as committed to believing in Santa as I am to encouraging it. We're back on track and spent the end of November ushering in the Christmas season. Duke is diligently working on some painted ornaments to give as gifts and we''ve watched the Home Alone franchise at least three times already, so off to a nice start, I say. 


Life Lately, November | www.biblio-style.com

Also, somehow we've accumulated four Christmas trees, and every single one of those suckers is setup, lit up, and ready for Santa. 


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The beginning of November feels so far away. It was still weirdly warm then and now that we have snow on the ground, it's so hard to believe that it shifts so much in just a single month. 


We started November with full color on the trees, donuts in Dad's driveway (the kind you eat for me, and the kind you make for Duke), and constant reminders to PUT ON YOUR FREAKING HELMET!


Life Lately, November | www.biblio-style.com


For the record, here's how the end of the month wrapped up - 


Life Lately, November | www.biblio-style.com

So! Not my favorite season, but it sure is pretty and I'm here for a silver lining when I see them. 


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Somewhere in the middle of the month, we spontaneously took a trip to see my sister and her kids. She has three girls, two of them are little, and Duke just loves playing with those crazy girls. We spent the week doing a countdown to "playing wif my cousins!" which was fun - we crossed off a day on our calendar every night before bed and it was a nice little routine for the week. It's a bit of a drive to get there though, and I took some time off work to start the drive around 4pm, while Duke asked me every five minutes or so, how much longer Mom? That was fun too, but more in the sarcastic sense. 


The whole trip originated because the Sunday before, we're just driving along, having a regular weekend day and Duke casually pipes up from the backseat, "Mom, why do you only have one baby?'


You guys, I thought this was a very surface level question. I told him how perfect he is for us, and how he completed our family, yada yada, but alas, he was not satisfied. 


"But all my friends at school, they have two kids in their family." 


So I took a different approach. I explained how he'd have to share his toys and my attention and whatnot and how it would probably take a solid two decades before he even liked this other kid. Still not satisfied. 


"At least I'd have someone to play with." 


Sigh. Then came the kicker -- "Mom, how do you make a baby?"


ILL EQUIPPED. I thought I had a few years still to prepare an answer to this, but since he caught me by surprise, I roll with the classic "when a mommy and a daddy really love each other, sometimes they can make a baby together."


"So you and Dad do not really love each other?"


Sigh again. At this point though, he generously offered me an escape. Out of nowhere, he said "I wish I could see my cousins" to which I said "let's call Aunt Dee right now!" and dialed that girl right up. 


We had a very fun weekend after all and I thought we'd nipped that one in the bud, but as we pulled out of her driveway, he sadly lamented "too bad I don't have a sister." 


I have no further thoughts to contribute to this. I offered him a swing through the McDonalds drive-thru and called it a day. 


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In other news, Duke is finally old enough to enjoy board games and boy am I delighted! Personally I think it's lovely quality time in which neither of us is bored (as opposed to mind numbing baby books that you just read on repeat for years-- even as a reader, I hated reading to Duke as a toddler!), and further more, it has a functional purpose: it's a quick way to find out if you bred a cheater. I did


Duke is a sneaky sneaky little snake who just loves to squeeze in a few extra plays and change up the rules. It's actually mostly funny because he's so proud of himself, he outs his cheating almost immediately, but you know, I have to parent so he doesn't turn out to be an adult who thinks rules don't apply to him. This is how you change the world. At least that's the contribution I'm going with. 


November Life Lately | www.biblio-style.com

It's nice. A glass of wine, some twinkly lights and four hundred rounds of "guess who it is." Duke's favorite question is easily "does your person have a mustache?"

November Life Lately | www.biblio-style.com

Life is also heavy in the rotation, primarily because of the fake money, the cool jobs, and the best part - the spinner. Over the holiday, we coaxed my adult niece Hayden into playing a round with us and she was deeply disappointed with her career options. "All these jobs suck" she said as she flipped over the "salesperson" career. I cheerfully reminded her that's my real job and we laughed and laughed uncomfortably. Ha! Just kidding. I was not insulted and she made a quick $5000 selling a TV, so I think I rest my case. 

Anyway, in keeping with the obsession to add people to our family, Duke just loves when he lands on a "have a baby" space, and he's so disappointed when he doesn't get the gender combo he was looking for. Seems realistic - if there's anything in life where you just get what you get, it's definitely that. 

November Life Lately | www.biblio-style.com

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Let's see, other nice things - 


A long holiday weekend to lay on the couch and binge watch my favorite movies. Sister Act is number 1 for me, always and forever. Father of the Bride 2 is a close second. 


November Life Lately | www.biblio-style.com

Leftovers for days. And listen, I know that a kale salad is maybe not the kind of leftovers we think about when it come to Thanksgiving, but this salad was bomb. So so good. 


November Life Lately | www.biblio-style.com


I finished up my 2021 reading goal to read 24 new-to-me books with The Life of Pie. It's a little tedious at times, but the writing is wonderful. The ending was perplexing. I'm still not sure what happened. Off to watch the movie now!


November Life Lately | www.biblio-style.com


Duke is busily completing all the festive things. He worked on a little school assignment (precious), disguising a turkey. I helped color the feathers. Duke thought the addition of a turd was totally 100% necessary. He later changed his tune and it seems the turkey is laying an egg. I'll be keeping that one in the baby book. 


November Life Lately | www.biblio-style.com

Also working on a gingerbread camper, which is probably going to be a month long project and that's fine by me! It's mostly a lot of eating the icing, so the actual decorating is slow going. 


November Life Lately | www.biblio-style.com

November Life Lately | www.biblio-style.com

And now we're leaning right into Christmas. I had a big goal to complete my Christmas shopping before December and I'm mostly there. A few more small things to pick up, but hoping December will be less frantic than usual and just filled with enjoying the season. AKA Christmas movies and festive puzzles on repeat. 


November Life Lately | www.biblio-style.com

November Life Lately | www.biblio-style.com


***


Happy December you guys!

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