Now With Less Stink

Considering that I have dropped it down a flight of stairs, Mila has thrown it across a room, and I've watched it fall to the ground dozens of times, I was due to shatter the screen on my phone. I mean, I OWED it to the universe to have to run to the Apple Store, admit that I made my phone sad, and then pay some money.

So I did that. Minus the paying some money part because WOOOOOO! I love fantastic customer service!!!!!

Ahem.

It was as I was leaving the Apple Store that I saw her. Out of the corner of my eye, there bounced a slender brunette in a long flowing dress. I hadn't seen her in over five years, but I recognized her immediately.

Alexis' dance teacher.

Alexis has had a long line of dance teachers. Each and every one of them has been an amazing force of positivity, grace, and professionalism. Except THAT one. THAT one . . . HOOBOY.

I wrote about that one a long time ago.

That one teacher was the teacher who made Alexis feel like she should just pack up her ballet shoes and head for the hills. Little Alexis didn't stand a chance as a REAL dancer. Dancing was most definitely not her calling. After all, little girls who get attacked by the floor constantly and who don't have the confidence to stand in front of a room filled with strangers have no chance of ever getting better.

WELP.

What Alexis is currently doing with dance is mostly her story to tell, but it's safe to say that recent months have proven that if you kick up the difficulty level, Alexis will rise to the occasion. And rise. And rise some more. Girlfriend is doing VERY well. She is doing so well that I have to say *I* was wrong about what she can do. I'm constantly floored by how gracefully she's hanging in there as she learns new and harder choreography.

So as I watched THAT dance teacher bounce through the mall, I thought about what I would say. I thought about all of the words that would be appropriate for a person who tried to squash a passion in a small child. I thought all of the things.

Then I turned on my heel and walked the other way, smiling silently to myself. Karma will make the rounds eventually.

The Answer To The Swing Dilemma -- Delegate

One Things Leads to Another

As her eyelashes grew heavy and threatened to find their resting place on her cheeks, a sound caught her attention. A thump and an  "I'M OKAY!" burst through the silence and grabbed Mila's consciousness. Her eyes turned towards the source of the interruption as if waiting for the next act in a three-ring circus.

The circus master did not disappoint. "Hiiiiii!" she yelled across the hall. With a bounce in her step and a song in her heart, Alexis burst into dance. As she does.

One thing led to another and suddenly I had two little girls in identical pajamas fighting for the real estate that is my lap. The little one is feistier than you would think, so she was winning the territory war. Hugs were exchanged and goodnights were said and children were ushered towards their nighttime places.

"Buh-bye!" Mila exclaimed a good thirty seconds too late. The words went unheard by their intended recipient, so I called out to Alexis to relay the message. Never one to believe second hand information, Alexis popped back into Mila's room and tried to elicit another goodbye.

It didn't work. But then, 30 seconds later, we repeated that thing where words intended for one person were heard only by another. Again and again we flipped through the sequence of events until somehow two little girls were suddenly really very awake.

So much for bedtime.

The two best friends curled up on the floor with a book. It's a silly book about love that I insist is an interactive event, so Mila held up her toes when the line "I love you from your fingers to your toes" was read out loud.

I die. #BedtimeThings

A photo posted by Burgh Baby (@burghbaby) on Sep 21, 2015 at 5:59pm PDT

One silly thing led to another and another and another and before you know it, I watched shenanigans like this for more than ten minutes. Then I grabbed my phone to get video and it continued several more minutes.

We are rocking this bedtime thing tonight.

A video posted by Burgh Baby (@burghbaby) on Sep 21, 2015 at 6:07pm PDT

There's no point to this story. There's no moral or deeper meaning or symbolism. It's jut a little tale of a good night with two girls that I want to remember forever and ever and ever.