Day Two Hundred Thirty-Six

I hope y'all weren't trying real hard to save all things Christmas until after Thanksgiving because Mila is not having it. AT ALL.

We've already established that I have feeeeeelings about this whole thing. Mostly I feel like I super love sparkly lights and I'm going to put them up if I darn well please. I will absolutely do my best to honor Thanksgiving by eating all of the food, but I'm going to do it while surrounded by Christmas trees.

Literally surrounded.

I'm adding two trees this year. I don't know where that puts me for a total, but I do know that if I put up one per day every day in November, I wouldn't finish before December. It's so fantastic.

And Mila is, of course, super in on this plot. She has been making sure more than one tree per day gets put up. She has more decorating spirit than Clark Griswold, frankly. She alone decorated two trees and she dug deep in her drawers to find every possible article of clothing with even a hint of holiday spirit. She found leggings, sweaters, skirts, socks ... all sorts of stuff.

And she wore all of it today. ALL of it. It was very Joey from Friends doing the opposite of going commando. SO MANY LAYERS OF SPARKLY AND BRIGHT.

I appreciate every second of her holiday spirit. There's just one problem. There is one new tree that I'm working on, and Mila REFUSES to cooperate. Every time I put a new ornament on it, she steals the ornament and uses it as a toy. I fear we're going to fight about this for the next six weeks. She is SO helpful decorating so many parts of the house, but that one tree. She just ... ugh.

Is that what I get for having a Toy Story themed tree? That's decorated with actual toys? I think maybe it is.

But I will win this battle.

(There will be photos of said magnificent tree just as soon as Mila leaves it decorated long enough for a photo.)

Day Two Hundred Thirty-Five

It has been 10 days since Halloween. I mention that fact not because I want to make you feel old, though it may accomplish that, but because Y'ALL!

$1400+

We haven't even peeked at Thanksgiving yet, but Christmas Crazy is already up over $1400. That. Is. AMAZING.

Good job, each and every one of you.

Of course, our work here is not yet done. We've got a lot of kids who could use a little sunshine and happiness this holiday season, so wander on over to that there Amazon Wish List and pick a few things out. Or, if you'd prefer, send a few dollars via Paypal. Either way, kids who have witnessed the worst that humanity has to offer will get a moment to see the best that humanity has to offer.

It's a two-for-one deal, by the way. Not only will a child get to open a gift this holiday season when he or she might not otherwise, but Mila will get to be positively delighted in the meantime. She really super loves going through the boxes and telling me which things she hopes she too will get. My favorite part of this, as always, is that her actual Christmas gifts show up at the same time as Christmas Crazy, so there's this fun thing where I get to watch her COMPLETELY NOT CARE about something I bought her, while being charmed by something I would have never picked for her.

I generally donate the thing that I discovered she doesn't want and go buy the thing she did want. It does all work out, but only after she has thoroughly destroyed my heart and soul.

ANYWAY! Christmas Crazy! Let's keep it going!

Day Two Hundred Thirty-Four

There are a lot of things that I likely should try to remember through words captured and frozen in time, but there is one theme that prevailed this weekend.

Relief.

Is it just me? Or did anyone else suddenly discover that they have been holding their breath for the past four years? I really didn't know it until the words flashed on the TV screen that gave me a reason to exhale. I knew the words were coming, I knew how Pennsylvania would turn out, and yet. AND YET.

Exhale.

We've got a lot of work to do, mountains of it, but step 1 is complete. Now we begin to fight to make sure that all people are given a fair shot in this crazy American life.

These two, for example.

If ever there was a weekend that perfectly demonstrated how very different they are, especially in terms of what they think is possible, this was it. I cut Alexis off from social media and most of the internet early last week because she was waaaaaaay too stressed out about the election. She hit a point of needing updates that simply isn't healthy, so *poof* I fixed it. She was genuinely worried and stressed and had no idea how it would all turn out. Though, if you need someone to tell you what literally every poll was saying leading into Tuesday, she's your girl. She had all of the data right up until I shut her down.

But not Mila. Mila already knew what was going to happen. It quite simply never occurred to her that there was another option. She made her decision about who should be in the White House next year in the most 6-year old girl way possible - she just plain likes Kamala. She thinks Kamala is pretty, wears cool shoes, says smart things, and seems very kind. And she's a girl. Kamala being a girl wins her a LOT of points with Mila. And OF COURSE there should be a girl Vice President. Why wouldn't there be?

So while I was over here in complete awe that there will FINALLY be a female Vice President, Alexis was mildly surprised, but Mila was all, "Well, duh. Girls belong in positions of power." It was a pretty fantastic lesson in remembering that the glass ceiling is moving and there will be differences even just with the 8-year age gap between Alexis and Mila.

Oh, and Mila's line of the weekend is all Kamala's fault. During her speech on Saturday, Kamala mentioned possibilities. If she was trying to inspire little girls, well, it worked. "Kamala said anything is possible so can I have the car keys? I need to go to Target."

Mila was completely serious. In a world of possibilities, even little kids can drive.

I should probably go back to holding my breath, but at least now it will be nervousness about what Mila might do and not somebody taking away basic human rights from entire populations.

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