I'm Sensing a Theme

Mila does this thing where she becomes fully attached to a random object around the house for weeks on end. For a while, it was The Box. By the way, The Box has retired because I went out of town for a work thing and the husband was all like, "OH, HELL NO" and hid it from her. Out of sight, out of mind.

I'm going to take The Box back out of hiding. Because this is the newest random object.

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Well then. #bedtimethings

A post shared by Burgh Baby (@burghbaby) on Apr 2, 2019 at 8:31pm PDT

I'm pretty sure I bought that stuffed animal when Mila was like one-year old because it was funny that she liked creepy things then. (Remember this?) The creepy doll thing just sort of worked, especially given that Mila herself was so danged adorable. (Seriously, Mila was THE CUTEST BABY. I just recently figured this out. I kinda wish someone had told me at the time.) Mila loved the big-eyed dumb bunny(?) for a few weeks and then it fell out of favor.

Only to come back this week. With a vengeance.

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We’re still carrying that ... thing around.

A post shared by Burgh Baby (@burghbaby) on Apr 3, 2019 at 8:11am PDT

She's been taking it to school with her every day. She has been sleeping with it every night. It eats meals with her. It plays outside with her. Everywhere Mila goes, there goes the creepy bunny(?).

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😳 #bedtimethings

A post shared by Burgh Baby (@burghbaby) on Apr 3, 2019 at 7:13pm PDT

I really super miss The Box.

Happiness Defined

Mila worships to the gods of ice cream. I know exactly how she feels given that I also think ice cream is the greatest of all of the food groups. The difference between us is that I'm more of a summer ice cream person, unless we're talking milkshakes. Every day is a great day for a milkshake. Regardless, Mila asks for ice cream ALL. THE. TIME. It can be snowing and -20° and it doesn't matter; she wants ice cream.

Lucky for me and my checking account balance, most of the ice cream places near us close during the winter. In fact, Mila's favorite place STILL hasn't opened for the season. It has been a very long six-ish months of her asking to stop there and me informing her that they're closed. Because it's winter. I know you still like ice cream even in the winter. Yep, they're still closed. THEY ARE CLOSED, KID. I CAN'T CHANGE IT.

We had that fight today. We were on our way to grab Alexis from track and Mila was all I NEED ICE CREAM NOW. I kindly informed her that the place is closed, but good news! I think they open this weekend! Stop being a pain in my butt and I'll consider taking you there!

I maybe didn't say those exact words, but it was pretty darn close.

As usual, Mila wasn't interested in being distracted from her rant. She kept complaining about them being closed and how ice cream is delicious even when it's cold outside and blah, blah, blah.

Her final argument for why ice cream places neeeeeeed to be open year round? "MOM, WE NEED HAPPINESS IN THE WINTER AND ICE CREAM *IS* HAPPINESS."

I can't say I disagree.

Freak Out

Right around Christmas, I bought a new car. It’s all a very long story and not at all interesting, but the point of it all is that I bought another Nissan Rogue. That makes it my third and basically that’s all I’ve driven for as long as Alexis has been around.

I had been plotting my next car for a long time, which means I had spreadsheets and lists and HOOBOY CAN I DO SOME RESEARCH. It was all for nothing, though, because I basically woke up one Saturday and was like, “I’m just going to go buy THIS car and whatever.” I didn’t test drive anything else and basically ignored all of the homework I had done.

::Shrugh::

In doing so, I didn’t really consider my “second choice,” which was a Jeep Cherokee. That means, of course, that when it came time to take a few work trips, I picked a Jeep Cherokee for my rental car. I kinda thought maybe I would work my way into regretting buying the Rogue? Maybe? I don’t know, but I was expecting to like the Jeep Cherokee.

I SUPER DIDN’T.

I mean, there were things about it that were nice. The fancy GPS and comfy seats and most excellent cupholders all made an impression. But that thing where Jeeps turn off when you stop at a traffic light? OMG.

OH. EM. GEE.

I have driven Jeeps a total of about 10 days this year, and NEVER AGAIN. Every single time I stop at a traffic light, I end up with a jolt of panic. WHY MUST THE CAR SHUT OFF. I know, I know … fuel conservation. But, have any of y’all ever driven a stick? Stalling when I’m supposed to be going is basically my manual engine nightmare. I get the shakes just thinking about being caught in traffic and stalling. THE JEEPS DO IT ON PURPOSE. I mean, I know they start right back up as soon as you take your foot off the brake, but my heart doesn’t know that. It’s too busy flipping out to listen to my logical brain.

Basically, me driving in traffic looks like a heart stress study. I am better equipped to handle a room full of hungry preschoolers who haven’t slept in days than I am to deal with a car that just … shuts off. I was in a near panic CONSTANTLY, to the point that I started taking back roads just so I wouldn’t come across any traffic lights.

By the way, I taught myself how to drive a stick by driving around on back roads in my old Ford Ranger when I was 14. I had my license at 14 because North Dakota is a weird place. I drove around at 2:00 in the morning, stalling constantly until eventually I didn’t. Why exactly the police officer who definitely saw me didn’t pull me over, I will never know. I only stalled four times in one block with him looking on … at age 14. At 2:00 in the morning.

And now let’s all freak out because Alexis will be 14 in a blink. She most definitely isn’t anywhere near being ready to drive a pickup truck by herself at 2:00 am …