Our 'birthday season' is almost upon us.
And truth be told, I am thoroughly unprepared. I started the second half of the year with the best intentions, however a mistake in my pay and a few uncovered errors at the tax office has left us tighter than usual. There's no point getting upset or angry about it, these things happen and they're on their way to being fixed so it's just a case of sit tight and wait.
We have plenty to cover food on the table and the bills being paid, for that, I am thankful and so therefore, grateful as there have been times in my past, before meeting my husband and having a family, where I couldn't achieve at least one of these.
Anyways, 'birthday season' is the never-ending stream of birthdays and occasions that start from August 1st and do not stop until the end of November, at which time, I'm already well into my Christmas planning (who am I kidding, I've already started planning Christmas). In August alone there are four birthdays, including my own (soon to be five as Bear is due) and two wedding anniversaries. September brings a further four birthdays, with October two more and November yet another two.
But of all of these many, many happy returns, there is one that means more to me than any other and of course it does...I was there the second she took her first breath, it is of course, Moo's birthday which is in October.
It would be fair to say that of her first two birthdays, I gave a pretty poor showing. For her first birthday I had been unfortunately quite ill and under out-patient investigation at a Brighton hospital for undiagnosed neurological problems. I was on statutory sick pay and we were struggling big time. My mother-in-law kindly bought some things for me to be able to throw Moo a little tea party with her friends, her NanNan made her a lovely cake and to be honest, at one, she was thrilled to bits just to have all her chums in her house at once! I felt like a failure but things were sorted by Christmas and we tried to make up for it then, not just through a few extra presents, but through the experience.
Her second birthday was a bit pear-shaped too unfortunately. She was incredibly poorly and even now, looking back at photos from that day, you can see how incredibly tired and ill she looks. To top it all off I spent the entire day working at the East Sussex Toddler and Baby Show on behalf of my husband and his brother which means that excluding the morning and the evening, I missed the entire day. She'd spent it with my father-in-law and most of that she'd been asleep or cuddling someone. She had wonderful presents because the husband and I had only been back from Florida a week or so where we'd been on honeymoon, but that's not the point, is it? I should've been there.
Once again NanNan came through on the cake front. Just to clarify, NanNan is my husband's grandmother. A woman who commands respect with three children, seven grandchildren and nine (almost ten) great-grandchildren to name just a smidgen of her accomplishments.
So this year, this year I am going to be super-mum. My only focus, once her brother is out, will be to give her the birthday she deserves. Food, cake, presents and an epic party. I am going to handle every step, get my best crafting and baking efforts out of the bag, learn how to ice a cake beautifully and above all, be there. Right there. All day. Showing her that she is one of the greatest parts of my life and I would be so much less of a person without her in it and that even though she drives me bonkers, I love her more than I ever thought I could.
I'll keep you updated with my birthday-prep over the next couple of months. If you'd like to link me any posts on the birthday parties you've thrown for your children for inspiration/motivation, I'd be thrilled to check them out!
Clare
Labels: Birthday, moo, party, planning
