This month felt extremely long. I'm not sure if it's the dread I feel every time I hear the words President Trump or read the news and hear more terrible policies that he's pushing through. It could also be the fact that I'm growing tired of winter. Perhaps it's the fact that someone in our house has had a runny nose for the past two months straight. Maybe it's a combination of all of the above that has made this month so long. In that long month, my girls are growing and they both have brought a lot of smiles to our household so at least we have that. Here are a few highlights:
- Callie is now sitting up and realizing that she can get places eventually with enough wiggling and scooting. Her goal is always to get to Polly whenever possible.
- Callie started daycare and of course that means a sick baby, AGAIN! She's just getting over an earache but all of this sickness has meant she wants a ton of mommy cuddles which is alright by me.
- My new favorite thing is pulling Callie into bed with me around 6 am when she starts getting restless. She's been settling back down for at least a half-hour more and it is so dang sweet.
- We have been having a battle of will at the dinner table with Polly. I talked to her teacher about it and she listed three things that we shouldn't do at dinner time. They were of course the three things that we do. Parents of the year.
- I can't remember if I've said this before but Polly thinks Lightning McQueen from the movie Cars is actually named Lightning the Queen which I love. Is it bad that we don't correct her?
- While at a friends house last week we realized that Polly doesn't really know what the word cartoon is because we've taught her to call all TV shows programs like my grandma. We are sorry that we've made you a nerd Polly. So sorry.
- Polly has taken to yelling "stop looking at me with your serious face!" when she's in trouble or not listening to me. It's hard not to laugh, so hard not to laugh.
- The other day Polly was making up a song with the following lyrics "touch your butt to the clouds, touch your butt to the sun, touch your butt to everything." I think it's going straight to #1 on the charts!
- It is SO interesting how different two kids can be. When Polly tried food for the first time, she couldn't get enough of it but we tried mashed bananas with Callie for the first time today and she was not impressed. Watching them both become their own little people is a huge, humbling honor.
I can only speak for myself but I marched for my daughters because they deserve more than Donald Trump has to offer. They deserve a better role model than a man who talks about women like objects he can just grab if the desire strikes him. They deserve to have power over their bodies. They deserve to grow up in a country that keeps to our American values, values that were built by immigrants and not just the white, Christian ones. My girls deserve to grow up in a country that values diversity, admits it's mistakes, learns from them, and gets better with time. We don't need to make America great again. We need to keep making it greater. It isn't something that was once fixed and is now broken, instead America is a work in progress. As of January 20th, we are not progressing. This isn't about Republican verses Democrat. We all need to open our eyes, ears and hearts. We need to search for FACTS. We need to admit our own prejudices, we need to look our fears in the eye and make decisions based on love and not hate and fear. We need to listen to one another.
Yes I'm scared. Yes the unknown and unfamiliar scare me. Yes it's easier to be around people who are like me but I also know that in my life, when I have faced my fears and moved beyond my own comfort, I have grown and learned the most. I like learning and growing. This is why I marched.
