How is your December going, friends? Hope all is well with your final month of 2023 and that you are effectively managing any stress you might have. Let’s begin with my latest rundown…

Children Biographies – I throw books about people into Sloan and Beau’s reading mix every now and then. Lately, we have read some good ones. At the end of November we learned about Helen Keller and her teacher/companion Anne Sullivan. On Sunday night we read a book about John F. Kennedy and then watched his infamous inauguration address on YouTube. Then, on Tuesday, we learned about Frida Kahlo. These books are more than inspiration and history lessons for my kids—they are very intriguing for parents too! Jeopardy champions say they prepare for the game show by reading non-fiction children’s books and I totally get it…they are like CliffsNotes with beautifully illustrated pages!

Sloan holding the JFK book and the Frida Kahlo book we read this week.

Santa Letters – Last weekend Sloan and Beau wrote their annual letters to Santa. They have fun getting creative and then dropping their note in the mailbox. In their correspondence, I have the kids focus more on being thankful about past Santa gifts than asking for new ones. The great anticipation then begins as they wait for the big guy to respond!

Beau and Sloan hard at work writing their Santa letters. Beau went for a more “illustrative” approach 😂

Beau the Leader – Earlier this week, Beau was the leader in Ms. Shaurette’s Pre-K3 class. In addition to the tasks he assumed, he also had the whiteboard devoted to him. Most of what he told Ms. Shaurette to write on his behalf made sense but petting reindeer? Hmmmm. It’s the Christmas season, I guess?

A photo I snapped of Beau when he was the leader earlier this week.

2023 Person of the Year – So, Time recently announced Taylor Swift as the 2023 Person of the Year. My thoughts? I don’t think there was anyone more deserving. The world seemed to revolve around Swift this year. Her summer stadium tour was complete insanity and probably basis enough for the honor. But then you also have the movie, a celebrity romance, and a general public that is overboard obsessive with T.Swift. Suffice to say, I wasn’t surprised nor upset when I heard that Taylor Swift was the 2023 Person of the Year.

I have no objection to this choice.

Dum Dum Candy Canes – There are seemingly as many different flavors of candy canes as there are grains of sand in the world. So, I guess it should come as no surprise that Dum Dum candy canes are a thing. I passed on buying these when I saw them at Safeway but I did contemplate whether they would actually taste like a Dum Dum sucker or just a generic watermelon/root beer/pineapple/etc. candy cane. Perhaps I devoted too much brainpower to the question because Dum Dums are special to me as I chronicled in this 2014 blog post.

They even make Dum Dum candy canes now.

———————–

Thanks for reading! I hope you have a great December weekend. Don’t Blink.