A Really Ridiculous "Conversation" About Christmas Lights

Our town has an annual tradition of lighting up the trees at Town Hall Common on the first Saturday of December.  Although the Rowe household has not attended the ceremonial lighting, we enjoy the sight of the famous "Blue Tree" and its other white-lit companions every time we drive by at night.

The Blue Tree

The town also lights another tree with blue lights, in the smaller town center that marks the "Heights" area of town.  This is our neck of the woods, so we see this blue tree much more frequently.  The other evening, as we drove by the Heights Blue tree, the kids got into a conversation that led to the most ridiculous bickering ever.  I will also point out that Madeleine has a compulsion to shout out "Sparklies!" each and every time she spies Christmas lights.  

MADELEINE: Sparklies!  Oh, look, Julia, it's the other Blue Tree!

JULIA: (scathingly) Madeleine.  The Blue Tree is at the Town Hall.  This is NOT the Blue Tree.

ME: Well, she means it's the other blue tree.

JULIA: This one is not CALLED the Blue Tree.

MADELEINE: Well, I'm calling it the "Other Blue Tree."

JULIA: No.  Madeleine.  The Blue Tree is the one that gets lit at the big Blue Tree Lighting.  This one is NOT the Blue Tree.

ME: Julia, just let her call it the Blue Tree.  It's not a big deal.  This one has blue lights too, and they light it the same night as the other one.  They just don't have a big ceremony about lighting this one.

JULIA: Well, I call this one "The Leaning Tower of Trees-a."

ME: I love it!  You're right, it does tilt at the top!

MADELEINE: Yeah, it does!  Okay.  That tree is "The Leaning Tower of Trees-a."

JULIA: (scathingly) Madeleine.  I came up with that name.  You can't call it that.  You're just COPYING me.

ME: Honey, we know you made up the name.  It's okay if Madeleine calls it that.

JULIA: No, it's not.  That's MY name for it.  She's just COPYING me.

MADELEINE: Okay, okay, I'll call it...uh..."Trees-a of Tower Leaning The."

JULIA: No, Madeleine, that's just the same thing back-

MADELEINE: Sparklies!

JULIA: Madeleine-

MADELEINE: Sparklies!  Reflecting lights!

JULIA: Madeleine.  Those are NOT reflecting lights.

MADELEINE: Sparklies!  Reflecting lights that are snowflakes!

JULIA: Madeleine.  You can just say "reflecting lights," you don't  HAVE to say "that are snowflakes."

MADELEINE: Sparklies!  Uh, Julia, uh- Sparklies!

JULIA: Madeleine.  You don't have to say "sparklies" EVERY SINGLE TIME you see Christmas lights.

MADELEINE: Sparklies!  Sparklies!  (spotting our house) Our sparklies!

JULIA: Madeleine.  Why do you always have to say "our sparklies" when we're at our house?

OMG.  Thank goodness we were home.  Madeleine clearly wasn't going to say ANYTHING right in her sister's eyes.

Sparklies!