Birthdays are once again over

I have 3 spectacular daughters and every once in awhile I am struck by how amazingly lucky I am to have these 3 girls in my life and also by the enormity of my task in raising them. There is so much to do, to teach, so much love and acceptance to give them, to guide them into independent, strong, insightful, compassionate, and dare I say it, cool girls and one day women. (yes I want to raise cool girls, I want them to be cool in a way I never was with the moxy and self assurance I never had.)Over all I want them to be happy and kind, and somehow I need to teach them all of this. Occasionally I do this amaingly well, often I don't always think I am doing it, and sometimes I know that I am not, but then I just pick up and start again and explain to them where I went wrong.

Now here is the thing about my 3 girls, their birthday's are all very close together and right after Christmas. They have birthdays in the beginning of January, February, and March. To make things interesting my twin sister and I, my older sister, and my brother all have January and February birthdays, although I hardly see my brother so that doesn't affect the situation much. In any case the beginning of the year can be a stressful time financially and time wise. Hubs thinks we should just not do much for their birthdays coming from a family that didn't do much to commemorate birth, but I come from a family who always maade a big deal of birthdays and I honestly enjoy throwing them parties, buying them presents, and making really cute invitations. So every year the finances and the time goad me into saying we are going to do something small, or just a family party but then invariably it gets bigger and more people get invited. I feel guilty not inviting everyone we like, but this year I did it smaller.

Middlest was overwhelmed at her large birthday party last year, so hers was easy to make smaller. She invited 4 friends of her choosing, two adult couples she loves a lot and local family. It was the perfect size for her. I battled the guilt for the uninvited but knew I was doing the right thing for my girl, and honestly the smaller number of guests made it very enjoyable, you actually got to visit with everyone and spend time with Middlest.

Middlest is 5 now, she's our lover, our sweet, kind girl with a bit of a temper when she doesn't get her way. She has charmed everyone she has met since she was an infant, and now she's this great, kind, compassionate girl. She used to be this cute thing that you fell in love with and lately I have noticed that she is not losing the cuteness, but it's transforming into a new kind of beauty.


Littlest's birthday was next in the line-up and we made the party a bit bigger, knowing many babies in her age group. The party was perfect with over half of the invited guests unable to attend. While I would have liked to see them all the size was perfect without them, yet another lesson that a smaller party is nice.

Littlest just turned 2, although I am sure she thinks she is just as big as her sisters. She is our climber, our independent one, the equal opportunity babe, she loves and gives attention equally and always on HER schedule, she is also a child who can win your heart with one smile. She makes you want to smile, makes you love life.


Finally we had Biggest's birthday in March, I had learned my small party lesson but we also had another reason to have a small party, which isn't my place to tell or share. Suffice it to say the guest list had to be limited, although a few more friends would have been nice. Over all the party (at a bowling alley) was a hit, the kids had fun and they didn't even use up all of their bowling time. The staff was not what we expected, but Hubs and I were the only ones who noticed.

Biggest is 8! It's hard to believe that the little baby that started my parenting journey is 8, we (or I while Hubs listened) used to imagine what it would be like with a 5 year old, an 8 year old, a 13 year old, etc. Here we are with this amazingly talented, bright, classically beautiful, dramatic girl and she used to be our round little baby with the toothless smile. She's dare devilish and sharp as a tack, a bit unsure of herself at times but the with the ability to captivate people and command attention if she chooses. She's a leader but can be swayed by those she admires.



So here we are done with the kids birthdays for the year, and as usual it is a feeling of relief and happiness. We are truly lucky to have these girls, and while they don't always get along, in fact sometimes they are downright mean to each other, I know that inside they really do love each other and that makes my heart happy. So I enjoy them, I laugh, I teach, I learn, I strive to do better for them, sometimes I want to tear out my hair, sometimes I want to run away but mostly I just marvel at these three amazing girls.