Sugar Plum Fairy

I took Brighton to see The Nutcracker on Saturday. Honestly, I didn't really want to. I felt pretty depressed and angry after Friday's news* and nothing felt like the "right" thing to do. As it turned out, it was a really nice thing to do that day. The production we saw was small and the cast was primarily kids. It was comforting to see something lovely and familiar and escape for just a little while.

I mentioned that I wasn't going to take Pacey. He'd have been bored out of his mind so he got to spend the afternoon with his friend Kyle, having cake for Kyle's birthday and going sledding. Pretty much his best day ever.

Brighton really blew me away with her behavior and enjoyment of the whole thing. She was literally on the edge of her seat for most of the first act and only really got wiggly about 10 minutes before the end. At one point she leaned over and "whispered" (in that wonderful way kids do when they don't quite get the purpose of whispering, "I love you very, very so much Mom." She loved watching the tiniest dancers (as did I) and has been putting on ballet shows with her two Barbies at home since then. I really hope it's something she'll look forward to doing every year during the holidays, just as I did as a kid.

* I don't have any coherent thoughts about this horrific act that I want to write here. I'm angry (so angry) and ashamed that these things keep happening in this country. I'm so grateful for my family's safety and health, and equally grateful that the kids are too young to need to know anything about this. I deeply, deeply hope that we can start to talk about some really big changes that need to be made.