One Proud Mama

Strangers are evil, or so Alexis believes. She really is a very shy kid and rarely will even make eye contact with a new person. However, every once in a while, her spidey senses tell her that someone is an exceptional person deserving of her undying devotion. It's always a little weird when it happens. It's very sudden, and when it happens, I totally get a little teary.

I recently watched it happen when Alexis and I met my friend Heather for lunch. Heather is one of those really amazing people who is perpetually in a good mood, even when she's not. She can find the sunny on the cloudiest of days, and can bring a smile to your face instantly with one of her trademarks chuckles. I don't see her nearly often enough because she lives in the wrong part of town (totally her fault, you know), and Alexis hadn't seen her in YEARS. Literally, years.

It took less than five minutes for Alexis to go from the kid cowering to hide her face on my shoulder to the kid climbing all over Fedder (Alexis renamed her. It's sticking.). Fedder was kind enough to teach Alexis a new goofy face which Alexis has been practicing non-stop ever since. Since that little lunch, Alexis has made it a daily habit to ask if we can go see Fedder again.

Alexis lurves her some Fedder.

It's because I just saw that happen that when daycare told me a little story today, I was able to instantly believe every word of it. It's not that I would doubt them, but the idea of Alexis quickly making friends with a new person is *odd.* I can only think of about five times total that it's ever happened, and I tend to forget that she has that magical way of spotting exceptional people.

The story, according to the teacher, is that last week the preschoolers walked next door to the assisted living home. It's literally 50 feet away from daycare, and they frequently go over there to participate in an Art with Kids program. The residents pick out a craft to do with the kids, and then help them do it. Alexis usually stands with a teacher, not participating, and observing from afar. It's the shy kid way of dealing with a room full of strangers.

Last week, however, Alexis found one of her exceptional people. In just a matter of minutes, she had climbed up into her new friend's lap and was giggling and laughing and having a great ol' time working on an Easter project. In turn, her new friend was also giggling and grinning and having a great ol' time.

As fantastic as it is that the kid found a cohort to giggle with, that's not the part of the story that made my all weepy. That happened when the daycare teacher told me that the director of the facility literally dropped everything to run and grab a camera so she could capture the moment. It seems that the particular resident Alexis had taken to had never been spotted smiling. Ever. In her many years living there, the woman had never once smiled.

I already loved my kid to pieces, but I love her even more knowing that she has the ability to bring joy to people like that.

"Fedder Face"--Alexis really can't figure out how to do it, but she's going to practice and practice and practice until she does.

I Might Get in Trouble for This One

I have previously mentioned that I don't get the commercialization of Easter. I'm not what you would call a religious person, and yet I'm all guilt-ridden just thinking about using Jesus' resurrection as an excuse to consume massive quantities of chocolate. (Just so we're clear, I frankly don't need an excuse to consume massive quantities of chocolate and tend to do it on days of the week that end in "y.") I just don't get how you go from "Praise, Jesus!" to "Praise, candy! And toys! And other crap!"

But.

Mr. Husband? He was ALL in favor of buying the kid random junk in celebration of Easter. After weeks of asking him, "Really? You really think Jesus rose so Alexis could get a bike?" I realized something.

I seem to be alone in this anti-commercialized Easter thing.

If you can't beat them, join them. Right?

So, I went out and bought the kid some candy, dug up a basket, and even procured some plastic eggs. Then I told Mr. Husband to add whatever he wanted, just so long as it wasn't a bike. (The only wheels that go with Jesus belong on the hotrod that he built, yo.)

This morning the Easter Bunny snuck outside and hid a bunch of candy-filled eggs in our yard. She was all sorts of clever and carefully balanced one on the handle of our front door, so the second Alexis glanced at the door, she spotted the egg and knew she should go explore outside.

The hunt was on.

People, I have to admit something. Something I very rarely admit, because it almost never happens.

I was wrong.

This commercialized Easter stuff? ROCKS!

Watching Alexis hunt high and low for eggs was A BLAST. The kid couldn't find her nose if it weren't attached to her face (I am to blame for those stunningly awesome genetics), so I made it all very obvious. STILL FUN. I'm not just saying that because she's not a big candy eater either. I mean, that is a spectacular bonus in the whole thing (hello, Reese's Peanut Butter eggs--can we be life long friends?). Genuinely, it was a lot of fun watching her run around the yard with Cody two steps behind her as she tried to find the eggs.

So, let's review. Caving to the weirdness that is the Easter Bunny will get you: 1.) LOTS of candy. The kid is only interested in the super sour jelly beans, so I get all the Mini Cadbury Eggs and Reese's Peanut Butter eggs. 2.) Lots of entertainment as you watch the kid search high and low for the hidden eggs. The entertainment will only get better as the kid gets older because I will get to be more and more evil while hiding the eggs. She's going to be BEGGING me for a map in just a few years.

What I couldn't figure out was what was in it for Mr. Husband. I can guarantee that the man will find his way to a candy clearance aisle or two or ten in record time, acquiring every sort of Easter candy there is to be had. He won't need to steal Alexis' candy. He couldn't have known that Alexis would enjoy the egg hunting as much as she did. Really he was mostly interested in her basket. The basket which he filled. With these:

Those two items which made Alexis VERY VERY HAPPY are a High School Musical DVD and a High School Musical game. Not only was Mr. Husband more than willing to purchase those items, he was waaaay more than willing to help Alexis with the game, and then later asked Alexis if she wanted to watch the movie for a second time. He missed most of the first showing, and he said he WANTED TO SEE SOME OF IT.

I'm beginning to think that Jesus was risen from the dead so that Mr. Husband could watch Zac Efron's thrusting pelvis. Just sayin'.

We Just Never Get Bored of the Playground