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It's my birthday too, yeah


I recently read a blog post on Keep Calm and Have a Cosmo about the "Facebook Facade." Yesterday, as I was madly dashing around the house trying to clean about before our house guest arrived, I realized just how very true that is. Here is how my birthday really went. My husband took the boys to the park while I had my hair done in the morning (it is amazing how those gray hairs just keep coming back and coming back, no matter how unwelcome I make them feel); he ended up leaving after an hour because the babies were too hot and our three-year old was, as he said, "tired." My guest arrived. Shortly after she arrived, I realized we still had no Father's Day presents or cards. I pulled my three-year old to the side and had the following conversation:

Me: "We need to go to Target to buy Daddy a surprise for Father's Day."
D: "Um, well, how about you go and I stay here?"
Me: "You need to pick it out, bud."
D: "Okay, okay, I have an idea. You go with Miss M [our house guest] and get the Father's Day present."
Me: "Miss M is going to go with us. You need to come with us to get Daddy's present."
D: "Yeah! She's going to go with you! And I'm going to stay here."

Eventually we made it to Target, D with us, and wandered the aisles aimlessly until we stumbled across Blue Rays that were on sale (did Target read my husband's mind...?). We all came home to start dinner. The babies fussed. And cried. And then whined. The adults opened bottles of beer. The kids kept fussing. And then dinner was on the table. I really think I spend more of my time during meals standing and getting things than actually sitting and eating. D sat on his step ladder, his new favorite place to eat, for some reason; he refuses to use a proper chair. Dinner was delicious. C devoured the steak tips we gave him. O spent the meal crying because there were steak tips on his tray. At the very end of the meal, he tried one ("I like them! I like them, Sam-I-am!") only to discover they were delicious and slowly ate every last bite. To top off the delicious meal, we cut up and served the salted browned butter Rice Krispy treats Miss M brought, or, as she calls them, "grown-up Rice Krispies." I cut one treat into tiny bites to feed the babies. C ate them one at a time, happily. O cried-- weird food on his high chair tray-- before stuffing every last bite into his mouth all at once. While O ate, C started testing out his lungs, yelling loudly, "AAAAAAA!!!!" D, finding this hilarious, starting imitating him. I can quiet a three-year old. It is much harder to quiet a vocal one-year old with no vocabulary. I apologized to Miss M for causing damage to her ear drums.

You heard it here: the BESTEST Momma in the world.
North Carolina June 2012
After dinner, I claimed the dishes, leaving my husband to bathe the babies (it was my birthday). As Miss M and I worked on the dishes-- she said I shouldn't do dishes on my birthday-- my husband had the babies in the bathtub. We could hear him repeatedly saying, "Sit down, C. Sit down, O. Sit down, guys. Hey, sit down..." Then taking them to their bedroom for jams, "Come here, C. Come here, O. Sit down. Hey, sit down..." After the kids were in bed my husband comes out, "O walked across the room." I said, "What?! You didn't come get us?!" He continues, "And he said, 'sit.'" First word and first steps all in one night. I missed them doing dishes. In his defense, my husband thought O had taken steps before; things can get confusing with two babies reaching milestones at about the same time.

We got D to bed with no issues. Then started stripping his bed (he's camping out on our floor), putting new sheets on for our house guest at 8:30 at night. At least she was getting clean sheets, even if they weren't on there waiting for her arrival...

Overall, it was a busy, wonderul birthday at home. Still, things do sound better on Facebook.

My Facebook status re-capping the day: "Miss M arrived with salted browned butter rice krispy treats. These things were amazing (I ate more than my share!). W went to the Meat House for steak tips, served them with salad, honeydew, cheese bread, and grilled corn. For dessert we had blackberry cobbler and ice cream. Such a fun day with a good friend and my sweet family. Thank you for the birthday wishes. You all must know this is my favorite holiday. ;)"
O decided dinnertime was a good time for snot bubbles.
While we had a guest. Classy.
North Carolina June 2012
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Comments

Mothering From Scratch said…
{Melinda} My husband and I were just talking about this last night! He is considering getting a Facebook and said, "But is it just going to make me feel bad about my life?"

I replied that I think Facebook is alot like Christmas letters. You pull the very best from your year, delete all the yucky stuff and make everything think everything is coming up roses all year long! I guess it's human nature, but important to remember when we're reading status updates about everyone else's supposedly "perfect" lives.

I think your birthday sounds just wonderful. The messyness of life is really what makes us appreciate the sweet moments. Thanks for being so real. :)
June 18, 2012 7:14 AM
Kimber said…
Haha! Thank you! Yes, it is very much like a Christmas card. I find myself doing it all the time, but, talking about the easy, sweet moments is much more fun (and uplifting) than focusing on the crazy, pull-your-hair-out moments! Thankfully we had none of those on my birthday, but it was LOUD and fussy!!! :)
June 18, 2012 10:47 AM
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