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“Oh that was so much fun!” squealed Lil. “My girls absolutely adored the hot cocoa bar!”
“My kid was unimpressed,” grumbled Smarti.
“Maybe it was because you set up an oatmeal bar,” giggled Pepper. “Not nearly as fun as chocolate.”
Smarti huffed. “Oatmeal is a much healthier option.”
“Mine built a snowman out of marshmallows,” said Flaky.
Nim remained quiet, unsure how to tell Santa about the mess he, and Leonard, had made. Should he tell Santa about Leonard at all? Was help allowed?
“Nim?” questioned Santa with a smile. “How did you do?”
“Oh, well…my kids were delighted with the hot cocoa…mess.”
“Mess?” asked Santa.
“Er, yes. You see, Leon–I mean I may have mixed up a few ingredients and made a bit of a jumble.”
Santa chortled. “Well, it’s the first night. There are bound to be a few messes here and there. I’m sure tonight will go much better.”
The others patted Nim on the back sympathetically, making him feel even worse about how his first night had gone.
“Cheer up, Nim,” said Pepper. “Tonight’s a clean plate with no crumbs.”
Nim smiled weakly.
***
Lil tiptoed into her house and peeked around the living room. Toys littered the floor, but all was quiet.
“Mildred?” Lil whispered into the darkness. “Are you here?”
“RIGHT HERE!”
Lil jumped a foot in the air when a small green Giraffalope tapped her on the shoulder.
“Oh, did I frighten you?”
“Frighten me?? You scared the sugar plums out of me!”
“Oops!” Mildred giggled.
Lil smiled, catching her breath and gazing around the room. “I had planned a big baking day for tomorrow, but I heard the girls’ mom say there was an inspector coming to the daycare and I don’t want to risk making a mess. Not that I would make a mess of course.”
“Of course not!” said Mildred with a wink. “So what are you thinking?”
“Well, I thought maybe we could help by finishing up the tree decorations.”
“Great idea!”
Mildred and Lil zipped over to the Christmas tree. A few boxes lay open on the floor with decorations that had not yet been put on the tree.
“Ok!” began Lil. “First, let’s get the rest of these ornaments on.”
They worked together to put the remaining bells and balls haphazardly on the tree, then stood back to admire their handiwork.
“Something is missing,” said Lil.
Mildred pointed at a pile of tinsel under the tree. “What about that?”
Lil grinned. “Perfect!”
She flew to the pile of tinsel and grabbed one end, then zoomed to the top of the tree and started wrapping. She flew around and around, twisting the tinsel over the branches until she landed with a ‘thump!’ on the floor.
“Beautiful!” said Mildred in awe.
“Whew!” said Lil. “All that spinning was so much fun!”
Mildred grinned. “Wanna spin some more?”
“Oh I don’t th–.”
Before Lil could blink, Mildred had grabbed her and thrown her onto a sit and spin near the toy room. Without a pause, she began spinning and spinning and SPINNING Lil on the toy.
“Mildred! Please stop!”
Taking Lil at her word, Mildred, with the strength of a full grown Giraffalope, stopped the sit and spin sending Lil careering into the Christmas tree. Ornaments exploded off the tree and tinsel flew everywhere
Lil caught her breath and clambered out of a pile of tinsel, surveying the damage.
“Oops,” said Mildred with a frown.
Lil sighed. I guess I have my first entry in the book.
“Use toys carefully—especially near fragile decorations!”
a pinch of homestead 