Happy Birthday

Thirteen years have passed since the birth of my second child and only daughter.  Today was probably the strangest birthday we've celebrated with our children.  For Elizabeth, it was great!  She woke early, got ready to go to lunch and shopping with her grandma.  She took some of her money from savings, paired it with birthday money, and bought something expensive that she really wanted.  We went to Saturday evening Mass and one of her friends joined us.  After Mass, we went to the family movie night in the parish center to watch Facing the Giants, and she got to sit with all of her friends.  When we got home, at 10 p.m., I baked her cake.  It's cooling on the rack as I write this post.  We'll enjoy cake tomorrow.

So, why was this birthday so strange for me, the mama?  Well, for starters, Elizabeth woke before me, so I couldn't get my whiteboard birthday card prepared before she woke.  I did sneak in the kitchen later in the morning, but it wasn't quite the same.  I write a special birthday message and draw some little pictures on the kitchen whiteboard for whomever is celebrating his or her day, and it usually stays on the board for a week or more.  The message I wrote made her smile, but to me it felt rushed.

As you might have also noticed, the cake is cooling now.  It won't be frosted until tomorrow, the day after Elizabeth's birthday.  Of course she's not the first child to celebrate her birthday on a different day than her birthday.  I just felt bad that we didn't have a family celebration on the real birthday.

Yesterday, I took her to the mall for new running shoes and a haircut.  I haven't ignored or forgotten her special day, but it still felt anticlimactic--like a grown-up's birthday.  I guess that is the thing.  She's not little any more.  Elizabeth is officially a teenager.  I remember the day she was born, praying for her during my labor.  When her older brother Michael came to see us at the hospital with Mike the next morning, I remember thinking he was so huge--he was two years old and looked like a giant next to my tiny new baby.  Now they're both teenagers.  People told me so many times to enjoy them while they're little, that time goes by so quickly.  I know it's true, but I have also said that although time does seem to slip by quickly, the pace of our lives seems just right to me--not too fast or too slow.  Sometimes things are hectic, but it really is a sweet life.