Day One Hundred Forty-Six

I had one day of aquatic perfection. One. Day.

I'm still fireballs and hostility when I think about all the ways my pond project has gone wrong in the past two weeks, so let's just not talk about that part. Let's just say, 2020 has been nothing if not consistent. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to conquer the latest problem and then maybe I'll be okay. Maybe.

In the meantime, let's just find the sunny side. The happy that still exists in the midst of all of the WTFery is Mila and her merry crew of frogs. Mila is and has always been obsessed with every animal possible and it seems that the frogs are extremely grateful for their upgraded home. They are spending a considerable amount of time hanging out in plain sight. It makes Mila's little heart sing.

But there's one frog that is doing more than making Mila's heart sing. He's nothing special, really, just a common bullfrog. He's likely a party crasher that found his way to our pond because I haven't added tadpoles in a few years and he's small. A juvenile.

And he's obsessed with people-watching.

I have caught him perched on a rock right next to me countless times. He absolutely goes out of his way to put himself there. This is a fact that delights Mila, of course, because her mission is to capture all of the animals and make them live in the houses she builds for them. Mila has managed to touch the frog about five times in the past few days because apparently he's cool with her as long as he gets to watch me.

The damn creeper.

Today, though. Today he went to far.

As usual, he was sitting on a leaf, inches from me, and staring. Mila was standing next to me. She was trying to be slick and act like she was there to hang out with me, but really she was on her frog chasing mission. She reached down to pet him and he jumped.

Directly onto my foot.

I, of course, shrieked. It's written in the pond lady instruction manual that you're supposed to shriek. Mila thought it was HILARIOUS, but it didn't distract her from trying AGAIN to catch him. Which, he was sitting on my foot. Let's not scare him right then, maybe?

But she did.

And he didn't jump away.

Instead, he tried jumping up. Over and over he tried to climb me, just like an excited puppy jumping up and down to greet its owner. So, basically, the frog attacked me. He went from stalking to attack mode and that's it. 2020 to go straight to hell.

But at least it made Mila laugh.

Day One Hundred Forty-Five

Question: How do I arrange for there to be a meteor shower every single night? Imma gonna need a meteor shower every night for as long as Mila is in this magical little person stage, please.

Clearly, we stopped everything and sat outside last night to stare at the stars for a while. Every second of the hour we were staring at the sky was basically magical ... thanks to Mila. She is a master at pausing to appreciate every little thing in life, so she declared every single star either "beautiful!" or "magical!" or "sooooo pretty!"

Mila is also a master at filling every single waking second with words. When she wasn't being charming by appreciating the sky, she was asking questions. So many questions. This time, the interrogation was centered around wishing on a falling star. Mila wanted to know all of the rules and the legitimacy of the whole wish thing. She asked if she was supposed to wish out loud or quietly in her head. She needed confirmation that the wish was a secret, and not something to be repeated to everyone. She wanted to know if the wish would come true and if there was anything she should avoid in order to make sure it did happen.

It could have been annoying, but it was charming. Because, really, she's just so excited about everything.

But then I figured out what she wished for.

A bunny.

Mila didn't tell me her wish, but I figured it out today because she was suddenly willing to spend her own money. For weeks now, she has been EXTREMELY focused on either catching a bunny in the yard or going to a pet store and buying a pet bunny. I admit I have approved her catch it plan. If she ever manages to actually catch a wild bunny, I'm going to be in a world of trouble. I just don't think she will.

I did not approve her buy one plan.

Her savings started a couple of weeks ago when I let her go inside a pet store with me. I needed a chemical for the pond and the store was empty, so it seemed like a not terrible idea? But then they had bunnies for sale and OMG. Mila fell in love.

The answer is no regardless of the situation, but the bunny was $70, so it was EXTRA no. There is absolutely zero chance that there will be a bunny living in our home. Period. But Mila has made up her mind that she is allowed to use her money for whatever she wants, so she just needs to come up with her own $70. She has been begging to to chores in exchange for a few pennies, legit stealing pennies from my purse, and scrounging up all of the money from her piggy bank.

She had $23. And then suddenly, instead of trying to turn it into $24, she was all, "I want to buy a new toy!" and begging to go to Target. I didn't actually give in, but I smelled the rat.

She wished for a bunny and thinks her money is now available for other things.

This can't end well.

Day One Hundred Forty-Four

Caution: Mom bragging ahead. If that sort of thing annoys you, it's a good time to clicky click on the X in the corner.

OKAY, THEN!

Remember the Big Kid? You know, the one who was the inspiration for this blog in the first place a very long 14 1/2 years ago? Yeah, she still lives here. She reminds me often that she will only live here for another four years, but for that four years, SHE IS MINE.

I don't write about her directly often these days, primarily because she's old enough to be on her own path, one that is uniquely hers in every way. She is still the amazing human she has always been, but she has earned the right to privacy, you know? So she gets mentioned in passing, primarily in stories centered around her sisterj, and not a whole lot more.

Except today. Today she is the star because ... MOM BRAG MOMENT, AHOY!

Two things.

1. As we all know, the kid has been obsessed with dance since she was very tiny. She started dancing competitively last year, which was probably five years later than I should have let her because basically you have to know what your kid wants to do with their life by the time they start kindergarten or they will be behind. She did okay in her first year of competitive dance, but this year? HOOBOY. The kid jumped two levels somehow. I don't pretend to know how these things work in the background, but she's now on the second team from the top as a freshman. She's the youngest by over a year. Most of the team are high school seniors.

I have no clue how any of this works and if I should be impressed, but I am.

2. Probably the bigger deal ... Alexis has been participating in cheer through her school. Everything seemed to be going okay, but then, without warning and despite what the coaches said in the Zoom call just a week prior, they started stunting at practice. Alexis is a base, for what it's worth, which means she stands very close to 2-3 other people and holds another girl in the air.

None of her team wears masks while participating in cheer. Alexis has been on an island, the only one who wore a mask all through practice because, "What's so hard about it?" I don't know what the rationale is behind thinking anything a cheerleader does prevents them from wearing a mask (outside of tumbling, obviously, but they are distanced when they tumble unless they want kicked in the face), but that's been how it has been going. I was mostly okay with it because they were distanced from one another throughout practice.

Stunting was a step too far for Alexis, though. Breathing the same air someone exhaled felt to her like a risk not worth taking, so she quit. Just like that. She decided that if other people couldn't act responsibly, she didn't want to be a part of it.

It was a pretty mature decision and I'm proud of her for standing up for what she believes. And for what the data says she should do. Basically, I'm saying my 14-year old is smarter than a hell of a lot of adults.

I told you there were mom brags ahead.