Sneaky Snake

The trick to surviving gymnastics is to promise Mila donuts as soon as her class ends. A quick dash to Dunkin' can prevent a world of drama. To further push the drama out of our lives, I then do anything to stay away from gymnastics while Alexis is in her class. If I can pull into the parking lot 30 seconds after Alexis' class ends, that's ideal. She runs out and Mila never has a moment to blow her top over wanting to run back into the gym.

Just because I know how to banish drama doesn't mean I always do it. This week was the last week for summer session, so I wanted to catch the last 10 minutes of Alexis' class. It's fun to see her progress and 10 minutes is plenty of time to do so when there's a squirmy 2-year old involved in the equation.

And, oh, the squirmy.

I explained to Mila that our plan was to watch sissy. I stuck her on a bench and handed her my phone with hopes that she would find a fun Toca Boca game and let me keep my sanity. The bench was along a half wall which happens to be the half wall that separates the toddler gym area from the rest of the place and ... 

Well ...

Oops.

At first Mila fussed that she wanted to go back to playing like she had for her earlier class, but it became clear quickly that she wouldn't get her way that way. So instead of escalating things, she turned quiet and then looked at my phone. She moved a character here and there on the screen and then casually took off her shoes and set them beside her.

Mila is always barefoot. I only get weirded out when she DOES wear shoes.

Once the shoes were neatly beside her, Mila went back to playing the game. Her chubby little hand held the phone while her other hand pointed and drug ... and then casually moved to her side and knocked the shoes over the wall. They landed firmly on a mat below the toddler uneven bars.

"I get it!" Mila cheerfully volunteered as she sprang up from the bench and ran for the gate.

I knew what she was up to, so I stopped her and grabbed the shoes myself.

There was no disappointment or anger, just a sweet little toddler. She went right back to playing on the phone with her shoes tucked safely beside her.

Moments later, her little hand snuck over. This time she threw the shoes all the way into the middle of the toddler gym area.

"I get it!" she cheerfully volunteered. This time I let her play fetch, which was of course a terrible idea because once she handed the shoes back to me, she ran for the hills. She fully intended to run all the way to the trampoline so she could have some extra fun. I had to running tackle her to get her back where she belonged.

Mila played her little game over and over for the full ten minutes I had planned to watch Alexis.

So, uh, what did Alexis learn this summer? I seriously don't know because instead of seeing it, I was busy being played by a toddler.