Day Thirty-Seven

I honestly don't think this kid has figured out that she has cause to be miserable.

Absolutely nothing is going Mila's way right now. School is dumb and stupid and pointless because the packet of worksheets she is expected to fill out each week are exactly what she thinks they are - dumb and stupid and pointless. She's been doing them, but not without rolling her eyes and making sure I know that our school district sucks for not trying AT ALL to engage younger learners. (Alexis' classes are 90% absolutely the best I could expect considering the situation. A few of her teachers actually seem to be doing better in this environment than they do in person, which is pretty freakin' awesome. The whole thing makes it harder to ignore the giant miss that is distance kindergarten.)

Another thing not going Mila's way is that she just SO badly wants to play with her friends. We're doing what we can to fill in that gap, but she's a social butterfly and a Zoom lunch date here and a FaceTime call with her crew there just isn't the same.

Kennywood isn't going to open this year. I realize they haven't announced any such thing, but let's be real. If Kennywood does open, we won't be going. There is not a circumstance in which I will feel comfortable being a part of a large crowd for a very long time. Kennywood won't be a thing this year, and that's basically like taking away Christmas for Mila. It might be worse, even.

A year of birthday party planning will get Mila nowhere. She will be turning six in just over a month, a date that she's been looking forward to since about ten minutes after her 5th birthday ended. I haven't quite figured out how we will celebrate the big 6, but it won't be the party that Mila has in her head. We've started talking about it so we can bring her expectations in line with what could be reality, but still. Disappointment is ahead. 

All of that is to say that it's rough being a five-year old right now. And yet.

She's pretty stinking happy.

Mila gets to hang out with her sister all day, every day. She gets to go on hikes and look at pretty flowers and climb on rocks and all sorts of fun. The trampoline is worthy of hours of giggles. She gets to eat lots of her favorite foods. Mario Kart races are unlimited and full of fun. Family Uno games are ... well, that's a story all on its own. Basically, Mila isn't getting to do any of the things she usually loves. Instead of sitting around and moping about that, though, she has found new things to love.

Be more like Mila. She's got this whole "key to happiness" thing figured out.