make-believe: do-nothing day.

November 16, 2020

There’s a picture book in our house that Silas has been particularly drawn to lately, and probably no surprise. Beatrice Alemanga’s story On a Magical Do-Nothing Day, begins with a small child being implored by their mother to go play outdoors. The duo seems to be off in a cabin somewhere, the mother diligently working at a laptop, the child bored and grumpy. Minus the cabin, it’s a picture of our days right now if ever there were one. In the book, the kiddo eventually heads outside for a solo adventure and finds themselves falling into all kinds of magic. For Silas, the magic is in the solo adventuring, no doubt. For me, the magic is the idea of staying behind and spending an afternoon cozily working inside without interruption.

Randomly, I love the mother’s blue-heeled socks in the book’s illustrations and so when I spotted this perfect pair from Imogene and Willie last week, I knew I had to build a make-believe around them.

Here’s what’s in my imaginary do-nothing day:

Perfect blue-heeled socks.

A matching set of the coziest sweater sweats.

A cozy chair to call my own. Plus an extra pillow.

An antique quilt for curling up under.

A candle for smelling good.

Something green to fuss over.

A slender side table for setting essentials.

A lid for brewing a calming cup.

Postcards for sending.

TAKE ACTION:

In an effort to ground this make-believing in something a bit more down to earth, a few things you can do should you find yourself bored or cozy and hopefully both:

Get out the vote in Georgia. It’s not over, friends! In November, Georgia voters had the unique opportunity to vote for two U.S. Senate seats. Because no one candidate got 50% of the vote in either election, they are both going to runoff elections in January. The first race is between incumbent Sen. David Perdue (R) and Jon Ossoff (D) and the second is between incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) and Rev. Raphael Warnock (D). Control of the Senate rests on the outcome of these races. So!

+ Volunteer! The New Georgia Project Action Fund is the partisan arm of The New Georgia Project and they’re working to help Georgia flip control of the senate. Join their Georgia’s Senate Runoff Volunteer Kickoff Live Stream this Saturday, November 21 at 2:00 pm ET to get caught up to speed and energized for virtual organizing with texts and calls!.

+ Send postcards! Lena Woolf and Lexi Visco have revamped their VOTE postcards, to ready them for Georgia. You can download and print your own postcards using their files and then direct your messages and energy to one of the campaigns listed on their site.

+ Donate! The Georgia Fund is supporting thirteen different local, partisan organizations in Georgia that are committed to registering voters and getting them out to the polls for January’s runoff election. If you can’t volunteer time yourself, consider a donation to the folks on the ground in Georgia.

This post includes several affiliate links. Reading My Tea Leaves might earn a small commission on the goods purchased through those links.

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8 Comments

  • Reply Kim M November 16, 2020 at 4:37 pm

    IMHO I think you should retitle “THE ULTIMATE MAKE BELIEVE: DO NOTHING DAY”. What a fantasy for this mother of two under 6?!

    5
  • Reply Sophia November 17, 2020 at 10:47 am

    That’s one of our most favorite books! I love that you love the mother’s socks. I also love her fuzzy sweater and her super casual up-do.

    1
    • Reply ERIN BOYLE November 17, 2020 at 10:53 am

      Yes! Same! Not to mention their cozy, slightly topsy-turvy house!

      2
      • Reply Sophia November 17, 2020 at 3:26 pm

        And having hot chocolate together without needing to say anything!

        1
        • Reply ERIN BOYLE November 17, 2020 at 4:21 pm

          TRULY THE STUFF OF DREAMS.

          2
  • Reply Lisa November 17, 2020 at 12:32 pm

    Love this and appreciate the action steps! (Ps. I’m seeing the header image twice on all posts. Maybe this is something funky with my phone but wanted to pass it along 🙂

    2
    • Reply ERIN BOYLE November 17, 2020 at 12:34 pm

      Thanks! And ugh, I know it! Having my site developers take a look!

      2
  • Reply Darcy November 26, 2020 at 12:32 am

    Aw, I drive by Imogene + Willie almost daily as I work in the area. Love that you featured these.

    1
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