Down the Rabbit Hole

Missed Connections and that Damn Elf

30 Day Blogging Challenge
PROMPT November 22nd
Write about a missed connection.

I'm sure there are plenty of missed connections in my life but I'm drawing an absolute blank this morning. I keep thinking of it in a literal sense. I keep thinking about someone running through an airport terminal to catch a flight for the final leg of a trip only to find the gate empty and the look of defeat as they watch their plane departing for takeoff. Literally, that kind of missed connection...

That's not what I think the prompt is looking for though. I think the prompt is challenging me to remember a time when I missed connecting with someone, missed an opportunity for an important exchange of some kind. That is what I am struggling with because nothing really comes to mind, even though I think it probably should. And yet I have...nothing. Nada. Zilch.

So....yeah.

What else is in my brain this morning that I can share in electronic ink so I don't feel like a total cop-out on this prompt...

I decorated early for Christmas this year. My husband's sister was visiting from overseas and she would be leaving before Thanksgiving, when I typically decorate the house. He thought it would be nice to do it early so she could see it, so we did it all...the tree, the lights, the nativity. Our neighbors likely thought we were nuts and I resisted to urge to go door to door to explain ourselves. My sister-in-law loved it though and as a plus, I don't have to struggle through it with a belly full a turkey and a wine-buzz now. The only drawn back...the Elf on the Shelf is back. The all-too-early appearance is giving me heartburn. I don't know if this is the year she's decided to admit she knows its all a sham or if I am expected again to move that damn red-suited creep all around the house from the 1st to Christmas Eve. I loathe the Elf on the Shelf. I am not one of those super creative moms who have a plethora of clever ideas for the Elf to engage in to the delight of a waking child. As a result, our Elf is predictable and possibly borderline lazy. Our Elf, who I think my daughter named Elsa, in an underachiever.

Last year my daughter came home and regaled us with all the funny things her friend's Elves did while they were sleeping. Her friends woke to find the Elf had baked brownies, played Monopoly with army men, built a zip line across the living room...Who are these parents? I can't tell you how many times I've been sound asleep only to wake up in a bolt of panic because that damn elf is exactly where my daughter left her. There is very limited creativity in my Mom's brain at 2am so inevitably my daughter "finds" Elsa doing something less than remarkable the next morning like sitting stoically in a poinsettia plant or hanging out of an empty Christmas stocking.

Anyway, I have a few more days until Elsa "wakes up" and begins her invasion. For now she sits in her box, waiting...

Maybe I am missing a chance to engage with my daughter's imagination? Maybe I am missing the opportunity to participate in the last remaining vestiges of her childhood wonderment? Maybe. See what I did there? I found a way to bring it home baby...go me.