Prosaic Poppy 2005-2006

Birthday Madness....

I am currently in the aftermath of having hosted two birthdays this weekend--yet still in the birthday cycle. I do this to myself every year. That is probably because all of my children were born in March and April...about 4 weeks apart in total.

I was fortunate enough to plan two of my children...just not smart enough to plan when I would have them. This has led to some interesting and stressful experiences.

My downfall is that I want each child to have their own special day. So, on their birthday, we have a nice dinner and whatever dessert they would like. It doesn't have to be cake...candles stick into just about everything.

Next, I want the kids to celebrate their birthdays with the families. So, that entails a birthday party with Caleb's side of the family and then my side of the family.

Then, I want the kids to have a birthday party with our close friends. They spend a lot of time with our children, and are considered "aunts" and "uncles".

Last, the kids are allowed to have a birthday party with thier own friends from school...a few friends over for cake and ice cream and maybe a trip to the indoor pool.

Well...this pretty much means that I have to have 8 birthday events within a span of 4 weeks.

I know it is ridiculous...but it happens every year.
And why do I do this?
Because I absolutely hated the fact that my birthday was always combined with Christmas and my mother's birthday.

It sucked.

My day was never really "special"...it never failed, I always received the birthday-Christmas presents. Worse made when I had to wait for the present until Christmas for whatever reason...why have a birthday at all?

Oh, my birthday experiences have been less than glorious...though they have gotten better as Caleb has learned from others mistakes-I graciously told him the stories, so that he could avoid such scenarios as blowing off my birthday completely.

I've even gone as far as giving him lessons in gift giving--it IS a skill and not an innate ability--trust me.

At any rate, it has been asked of me "why not just have one birthday"?...I have tried this as well. The craziness isn't any better...whether I smoosh it all into one event or into 8 smaller bites. Besides, our place is much too small to accomodate all those people...and since my prenatal planning didn't include having a child in the summer time, it's not like we can sit outside and hang out.

Besides, If I smoosh it all into one event, we have the dilemma of the shared birthdays...now...I could have separated them ALL...which would mean putting on 14 events...

3 children
3 my family
+3 Caleb family
+3 our friend events
+3 regular birthdays
+2 their friend events
14 (!)

...I don't think that I am mentally prepared to ponder having 14 birthday parties so lets just skip over that...

Well, I've knocked out 6 birthday events so far...only 2 more to go.

Poor Zac, by the time we get to his birthday, which is the last of the cycle...I feel like handing him some cash and telling to just get whatever he wants...

I'm not kidding...I actually considered changing their birthdates. Is that possible? For instance, how wonderful would it be to just have it at the beach...

My desire to give them each a special day of their own recognized by all that love them is being overridden by my desire to not bake another cake.

The good news is that I am officially ready to start eating healthy again.

So you see the secret of my dieting success for the summer slimdown is not dedication and determination...no no no...it is simply the fact that by the time mid April rolls around I HATE CAKE.

By the by...Caleb has informed me that he thinks if we have a baby in October or November that they will feel left out that their birthday isn't with the others...
...

I don't know how to respond to that...

*twitch*

posted by Kassi Gilbert @ 10:09 PM