Seven Years of Light

Just like that, it has been seven years since this magical creature invaded our hearts and made our lives better in every way possible.

Okay, maybe not EVERY way. I do have a few dozen grey hairs named "Mila" because Mila is going to Mila as Mila sees fit.

She's the joy chaser. What comes after the joy is completely irrelevant to the chase. When the child wants something, she grabs a ladder, starts climbing, and takes it. It's amazing and fantastic and we could all stand to learn from it. But maaaaaybe think about consequences even if just a little? Maybe?

I was trying to think of the best way to describe Mila's daily existence. My first thought was that she's a ray of sunshine that lights up every room, but that's not quite right. She's more like a comet that comes zooming by. You have to stop and enjoy every moment that she's near because she may not be back for a while. You also have to hope she won't crash and burn. She wonderful and beautiful and ... just a tiny bit dangerous.

Bad ideas are Mila's brand, but doing things to make other people happy is as well. She gets so much delight from performing small acts of kindness. That's why there are small gifts littered all over our house. Currently on my desk is a pipe cleaner snail, at least a dozen drawings of various joyful things, and three beaded necklaces that she strung by hand. She delivers gifts while I'm in meetings, often wanting nothing more than a smile and a thank you. That's enough to brighten her day.

Not that any of her days are lacking for brightness, because they're not. The child can take any situation and turn it into something that works for her. For example, she didn't get to have a birthday party again this year. There is a very long list of reasons for that, most of them having to do with COVID and the 12000 side effects from its existence. We did, however, have a small group of fully vaccinated friends over for Memorial Day. Even though there were no kids Mila's age around, she turned the very low-key day into Mila's Birthday Extravaganza. She persistently finds ways to get what she wants. Always.

This kid. This kid is going to be an amazing adult. Every day along that journey is going to be an adventure.