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Birthday Mommy

It was my birthday over the weekend. I turned 29. For the _____ time.

The day before mine, a good friend celebrated her birthday. When Benjamin asked her age, she quickly replied, “25”. I told Benjamin that you never ask a woman how old she is, you just tell her that she’s beautiful. So, on the morning of my birthday, Ben said to me: “Happy birthday Mommy. I think you are very pretty.”

Learns fast, doesn’t he?

Truthfully, age doesn’t bother me a whole lot. Sure, I’m starting to notice the laugh lines around my eyes, they mean I smile a lot. I know that no amount of working-out will ever get rid of the post-baby-poof. Oh, and I’ve been dying my hair for greys since I was 21, so no big change there (I kid you not). But, the whole getting older thing hasn’t begun to bother me yet. My Bubby says that you should celebrate birthdays more the older you get, because it means you’ve made it another year.  My Bubby is a wise woman, so I’ll agree.

What I have realized about birthdays is that the older you get, the less and less your birthday becomes about you. Or maybe this is only so after you’ve had children. My birthday this year was all about how Benjamin and Nicholas thought that I should spend it. And you know, I’m okay with that. Now that the boys are old enough to understand what a birthday is, they loved helping Pierre make mine extra fun. And truthfully, that’s what I wanted for my day: for my boys to realize that birthdays are special. That when you love someone, a birthday is the perfect day to show them, even more, just how much. One day, my future daughters-in-law will thank me.

So, the boys helped: They each wrote their names on my card. They made me special hand-drawn wrapping-paper, then Nicholas told me what each present was as I was beginning to unwrap it. They shared my gifts (think you don’t need a Costco pack of water-bottles? I do. One for me, one for Ben and one for Nicholas. They chose their colors, I got the one left over). We spent a good part of the afternoon at out local community fair where the boys played in the bouncy castle for at least an hour (and I got to chat uninterrupted with friends; now there’s a present!). Pierre made dinner, and it was delicious. We ate chocolate cake. And finally, we snuggled on the couch and watched Toy Story 2 (what is it about Disney movies that always make me cry?) because Benjamin insisted that I really, really wanted to watch Toy Story 2 for my birthday. Then, Pierre and I tucked the boys into bed, and I treated myself to a second-helping of chocolate cake. If you can’t have double the chocolate cake on your birthday, when can you have it?

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Waiting for cake.

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Blowing out candles with water bottles at their sides!

And today, Benjamin made me a beaded bracelet with “I Love You Mommy” strung across the elastic string.

Maybe the boys knew what I wanted for my birthday after all.

xo Naomi

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