Imbalance

I would like to once again HIGHLY recommend having kids 8 years apart. It creates a sense of balance in a world of imbalance.

See also: How the hell am I going to survive the teen years with Mila?

Alexis is currently in a phase where she's proving that not nearly enough words have been written about the dumb words that come out of teenagers' mouths. It's worth noting that this particular teenager has an oversized guilt complex and is faaaaaar more empathetic than average, AND YET.

OMG the stupid. THE STUPID. She says things without thinking and how bad did my parents have it? I was way worse than Alexis is and clearly I was wrong way more than I ever knew.

But if Alexis is pretty much an easy kid and she can make my head explode, just imagine what Mila is going to be like. That kid says stuf just to make me mad now. Once she more expertly refines that skill, I am done. DONE. Toast. She's going to destroy me.

In the meantime, Mila makes for an excellent source of sanity. Mila doesn't have a filter and just says whatever, but she's still freakin' adorable while she does it. So while Alexis can anger me like nobody else these days, Mila is over on the other side of the room just randomly saying, "You're a good mom."

SHE DOESN'T EVEN WANT ANYTHING.

Usually.

It's a thing that Mila does, though. She randomly, and usually for no reason, throws out nice words or a compliment or whatever. She sometimes compliments my hair, tells me I'm pretty, or comments that my outfit looks good. Other days she has nice things to say about an idea I had or how great it was of me to let her do whatever. Basically, the kid is a master at stopping for a moment and saying something nice.

You win some, you lose some, I guess.