Even one where we waited, in the cold, longer for it to start than the parade even lasted.
We live in a small city. I mean it’s tiny – approximately 10,000 people which is even smaller than the town that I grew up in. There are 3 (I think) stoplights and one main road so I’m not exaggerating when I say it was a really, really short parade. There were maybe 10 police cars, including the ones from surrounding areas, a couple of ambulances, one marching band, about 6 homemade floats – 4 of which featured the Grinch, and one policeman on a bike whose sole job was to keep people out of the road and on the sidewalk (didn’t work). The grand marshals of the parade were the surviving members of the local high school football team and cheerleaders from 1945 (seriously – there were like 8 of them) and it ended, naturally, with Santa on a fire truck.
She loved it.
Note: We did not amputate her hands. She refused to keep her gloves on so I folded over the arms of her snowsuit. She thought it beyond hysterical that her hands disappeared and she couldn’t find them.
She even loved the sirens. That surprised me. She usually doesn’t like super loud noises so this proves that J is successfully brainwashing her to embrace all things fire truck.
I was a little miffed with the lack of parenting around us. As candy was being thrown from the floats the kids around us were running right into the road to grab it with no thought to, oh – I dunno, the large motorized vehicles that could potentially smush their kids, or any consideration that their kids were running over anyone in their path…including Ava in her stroller. Between J and I chastising children (and parents) around us they finally backed off a bit but the only chance Ava had for her own piece of candy was when a very kind lady walked over to her and offered her one of her kids’ suckers. Ava was thrilled with this and said thank you so prettily the lady gave her another.
Once again this kid reminds me to find the joy in the simple things – even if my tush did freeze to the ground in the process.