Since I was born during the summer, I was not afforded the grand luxury of celebrating at school with cupcakes or cookies or even - the apex of all school parties - a cookie cake!! I know... it was a sad occurance!
Every year on our birthdays, my mom and dad would take my sister and I out to our choice of restaurant in town. This meant that I would spend MONTHS in anticipation of my birthday deciding where I would go and what I would order. For my sister, this meant we'd go - yet again - to McDonalds. Until she was 17. No joke!
We had friend birthday parties as well. When I turned 10, we had a sleepover! When I turned 16, I got to order a professional cake. When I turned 18, we went to the fanciest restaurant in town - with my friends!! So, despite my not getting to celebrate at school (every teachers' dream come true!), I did have good birthdays growing up.
They were so good, I didn't want to deprive The Daughters of those same celebrations. But, since this is the weekend of Daughter 1's birthday celebrations (yes, plural), and I can barely keep my eyes open at 4:30 in the afternoon, I've adopted a new motto: NO MORE BIRTHDAYS!!
I do it to myself. We plan the theme months in advance. I hand make every invitation. (This year, I went with an email for half the invites ~ I'm learning!) And I make the birthdays bigger and better every year. I say we'll only invite 2 or 3 friends. I say we'll only do one birthday celebration. I say we'll only do one birthday dinner. I say we'll only have one birthday cake. And then - before I know it - the bash looks more like an MTv reality show: Kids & Their Moms Gone Wild on Their Birthdays!
This year for Daughter 1 was no different: Her actual birthday was on a Friday. So we took cookies to school for her and her classmates. I know her teacher was thrilled. She said it was perfectly fine with her as long as we passed them out at 3:33 pm. School is dismissed at 3:35.
After school, I prepared Daughter 1's favorite meal: chicken strips, macaroni & cheese, and mashed potatoes with white gravy. She wanted crecent rolls also, but heck! We weren't carb loading! (Or were we?)
Saturday morning, I fixed Daughter 1's favorite breakfast - cinnamon rolls and bacon. And by "fixed" I mean I thawed and baked the cinnamon rolls and heated the pre-cooked bacon. The Grandparents from down south were there as were Aunt LuLu, Uncle Jared & Baby Whit (who is three years old, but will always be "Baby"). Eventually Nana, Aunt Lanie, Uncle David & Baby CC showed up. Baby CC really is still a baby. And we had our family birthday party.
After the presents were opened and the song was sung, we raced to our favorite Mexican place (the one with the biggest sombrero) and let them sing "Feliz Cumpleanos" as Daughter 1 ate the traditional Mexican brownie... well, maybe not "traditional"...
We raced back to the house to meet up with three dozen of her closest friends and headed to the golf course, where we had a mini-birthday golf clinic... and then ate cupcakes and opened more presents and sang more songs! I'm still trying to figure out why the family didn't want to come watch dozens of little girls swing golf clubs wildly at tiny hard balls!
Anyone tired yet?
We dropped off the young golfers and headed home with one friend still in tow. When we arrived home, only to discover that we had not eaten the cookie cake reserved for the family celebration! So, we dug in and sung a very quick and giggly version of "Happy Birthday to you! You live in a zoo!".
Then we headed back out to have dinner. This wasn't planned - it never is planned, but every year I'm too tired to even heat up pre-cooked chicken strips! While out, we endured -- I mean we enjoyed -- yet another rendition of "The Birthday Rap!" The extra kid's mom & dad came and picked her up and brought Daughter 1 yet another present! Really. I'm not making this up!
As we drug ourselves out of our favorite downtown eatery (where kids ALWAYS eat free!) and snuggled into The Dad's car to begin the long (10 minute) trek back home, The Dad asked Daughter 1 if she had a good birthday celebration. Sweetly, she sighed and said in a sleepy-tired voice, "Yes." Ahhh... that sweetness made it all worth it. I was one happy momma! And we all sat quietly as The Dad slowly drove through downtown on our way home.
From the back seat, I hear Daughter 1 clear her throat. "Ummm... Mommma?"
"What's up, Buttercup?" I say in a half-asleep voice.
"What's kind of birthday am I gonna have next year?"
So much for my new motto...!!! Oh - and, in case I haven't said it yet, Happy Birthday, Daughter 1!
