Since Kaia’s arrival, we obviously haven’t been spending too much time out watching movies or going to different shows or the theater. Babysitting not only gets expensive, but now given that Kaia is 10 months old, she’s in prime “stranger danger” mode, so even paying for help outside of the nanny could end up increasing her anxiety. Instead, after she goes to bed on Friday and Saturday nights, we’ve been watching Downton Abbey. Yeah, yeah, I know: it’s about 10+ years late. But it’s not like I’ve ever watched any show in its prime. Plus, with Downton, just the quick synopsis of it didn’t really interest me very much, but Chris insisted I would like it. And well, he was right. Sure, on the outset, a show about British aristocracy who don’t even know what “work” or the “weekend” is doesn’t really interest me. But the character development on the show is really rich, plus I love the interactions between the “upstairs” family and the “downstairs” servants family. The best thing about Downton is that most characters are very nuanced, just like with people in real life: no one is really all good or all bad. No one is a hero or a villain. We live in a world of shades of grey, not black and white. You don’t always love or hate any major character. You go through moments when you want to hug them and others when you want to punch them in the face. That’s what makes them all so relatable. It’s probably not realistic how well the Crawley family treats their servants, but hey, this is still TV, right?

I’m still not over Matthew dying. Chris laughs at me about it. But this is what happens when you really get invested in the character development and the story line.