Day Ninety-Five

Mila does not take care of her things. There are a million stories I could tell to prove it, but the one that was the center of her world today is the fact that she can't find either of the two new pair of shoes I bought her a few weeks ago. They were both flip-flops, basically the only type of shoe she'll wear. When she couldn't find them, she ended up wearing a pair that haven't fit her for probably two years.

Don't ask why they were still in the house. I can't answer that question.

So Mila was walking around in flip-flops that keep her toes off the ground but that's about it, and I asked her why. I wasn't aware that a search party had spent 20 minutes trying to find her new flip-flops earlier in the day, but I was filled in on that little detail. Mila's answer for why she was wearing very tiny shoes, though, was a bit misleading, "I just really like them."

Mmmhmmm. I'm sure she was wearing them just because she likes them.

So I made a comment about how Mila doesn't take care of her stuff. She became defensive. "I take good care of my things!"

"Mila, you can't even take care of your stuffed animals," I replied.

"I take care of my stuffed animals!" she replied.

"Where's Gonzo, then?" I continued. Gonzo is just one of her hundreds of stuffed animals because the kid is a hoarder. She has all of Alexis' old stuffed animals and all of the ones that she's been gifted throughout her life and you can't take a single one away from her. It's craziness.

"Gonzo is where I put them," was Mila's answer.

Which, let's be honest. That's a pretty awesome answer. Of course he's right where she put him!

"And where is that?" I prodded.

"I can't tell you that. He's only safe if I keep it a secret where I put him."

Mila must be keeping a loooooot of things safe these days because she doesn't seem to want to say where half of her possessions are.