It's a Little Depressing When Your 7-Year Old Dresses Better than You Do

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Psst ... there is a giveaway for a See's Candies gift card over here!

Sharing is SO Overrated

If there is one thing that I wish people would have warned me about before Alexis was born, it would be SLEEEEEEP. GLORIOUS SLEEEEEP. ENJOY IT. But! If there were two warnings, maybe the second one would be to go ahead and enjoy being selfish because SHARING IS STUPID OMG.

You know what I'm talking about.

"Can I have a drink of your water?" they say. What they mean is, "Can I spit a bunch of stuff I've been holding in my chipmunk cheeks into your bottle?"

Find me a parent who hasn't hid in a closet to eat some dessert without sharing and I will show you a liar because EVERYONE DOES IT.

And now I have to share my ornament making, apparently.

Every year for a bunch of years Alexis and I have made glass blown ornaments. It's fun! She sort of does one and I do one and YAY! Shiny things! Family memories!

This year I scheduled the shenanigans for January because 1) I learned that I could schedule it for January and 2) Do you know how much easier it is to do things in January when the holidays are over? Yeah. That. Alexis and I found our way to Gallery G Glass and prepared to get our glass blowing on.

This year was set to be different, though. In previous years, Alexis has copped out on part of the process. This year I told her she was doing it herself AND THAT IS FINAL, YOUNG LADY. She has a tendency to skip out on the hard part (the first time you have to blow) and then magically recovers for the fun and easy parts.

Nuh-uh. There was to be none of that this year.

And it worked! Alexis made her own ornament all by herself!

And then it was my turn. As I walked over to start, Alexis turned to me, put on her most pitiful sad puppy face, and asked if she could make mine, too.

I let her. DAMMIT. I have regretted it many times since. She did a great job, but I WANTED TO DO IT. WAAAAAH.

Give me a time machine and I will go back in time to relive those days when I didn't have to share anything. I really didn't appreciate them as much as I should have.

It's the Hoopy Little Things

There was a moment a few months ago when Alexis uttered the words, "It's more fun to cheer from the sidelines than it is to play."

Oof.

OOF.

Those are words that have most definitely never emerged from my mouth. Yet, I kept quiet because Miss Alexis is her own person. She's following a path that I don't always understand, but it's a fantastic little path paved with glitter and sparkle and all of the things that make Alexis happy.

Part of that glittery path includes being quite the fashionista -- even when Alexis is headed to basketball practice. It was like cheerleading and basketball were thrown into a snowglobe together and all shook up. Cheer shorts wound up on Alexis' bottom, a basketball shirt covered her top, and the giant cheer bow polished off the look. Even her accessories were a blend of cheer and basketball. School spirit exploded all over her little self. And it was adorable. Of course.

But through a misunderstanding regarding schedules, Alexis ended up missing practice. There were tears. So many tears. Tears for miles because the little girl who would rather stand on the sidelines and cheer sure was sad when she didn't get a chance to play basketball for an hour.

It's a good thing Santa brought that basketball goal. Since the weather broke, the goal went up. It temporarily sits on our patio at an awkward angle and a weird height, but it's there.

Hour after hour, Alexis shot hoops this weekend.

And hour after hour.

I spent nearly every second of her hoop time watching through the window. Every time she would catch me watching, Alexis would look up, grin, and wave before returning back to the game.

I thought that was the highlight of my weekend, frankly. That little acknowledgement was golden.

But then it got better. Then, even as the sun was beginning to set, the neighbor kids followed the sound of a bouncing ball and joined Alexis shooting hoops on the patio. Laughter floated everywhere and smiles were plenty.

Even if Alexis does decide the sidelines are where she wants to be, that moment was worth it all.