Emma turned 4 years old on Monday. I am now the mother of a 4 year old. I have a daughter who is 4 years old. Hmmm. No matter how I say it, the concept is still pretty weird. I haven't quite wrapped my head around it yet. Maybe it's because I just haven't had the time. We just got back from St. Louis, and anyone with kids knows the amount of preparation required before any type of road trip. After returning, I jumped right into plans for her birthday party this Saturday. Thank god for Aunt Jayme, who has so graciously agreed to host the party at her house in her awesome backyard. We are expecting anywhere from 20-40 people, and for the first year we agreed to invite just Em's friends. In the past, we've basically had Emma, her cousins, and a whole slew of adults. This year we anticipate many 2-5 year olds, and I am a little nervous.
Since I'm not sure just how many people are coming, I'm over-preparing, of course. This week I have spent many hours shopping for food, toys, cake, etc. My lovely husband helped me put together 20 goodie bags for Emma's friends to take home. Tonight I will be cleaning my sister's place and hauling in all the food and supplies while Chris stays here to clean our place because we have house guests. Tomorrow morning will start very early b/c I have a long list of errands to do before the party starts at 11am. And I'm doing all of this knowing full well that Emma will have no inkling or appreciation for all the hard work her parents have put into throwing this party for her. And...that's okay. I mean, you only turn 4 once, right? She's growing up and she actually has friends her own age now, and seeing her (hopefully) have a good time is most definitely all the thanks I need. Perhaps, as a Christmas baby, I'm overcompensating a bit b/c I never really got to have birthday parties myself, but even if I am, who cares? Birthdays are the one time of year that it gets to be all about you, right? (Although it often feels around here like it's all about Emma, but I digress...) And even though my parents always tried really hard to separate Christmas and my birthday, the fact is that my birthday has never been all about me, so it's really fun for me to do this for my kids. Now I just hope people actually come, the weather stays nice, the cake turns out well, the kids play well together, we don't run out of food, Sophie behaves.... Come Saturday night, I'm gonna have a nice, strong drink and sit on the couch for at least 15 minutes thinking about absolutely nothing, but for right now you'll have to excuse me - I have a lot of worrying to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment