Thursday, March 11, 2010

#2 The Actual Birth Day Birthday

February 27th was Molly’s Fancy Nancy/Princess party.
 She was over stimulated for hours on end,
given a big pile of new toys,
allowed to eat sugar and junk food all day and
then had her sleep schedule completely screwed up.

February 28th commemorates the day that my
 charming, charismatic, loving child was born.
 It’s a day of beauty and pureness. A day to celebrate.

And for some reason I thought that this February 28th would be
a day of beauty and pureness. A day to celebrate.
 Even after what transpired on the 27th. Silly me.
k
This is the tired child that greeted me first thing in the morning.
It should have been a sign that the day
might not be all rainbows and puppy dogs.
Everything really did start out innocently enough.
Molly asked to wear a princess dress.
“Okay,” I say. It was her birthday after all.
On to breakfast, which was cooked to order:
 eggs, hash browns and toast with sprinkles. It was all good.

But then I asked her to take off her princess dress
 so that we could go to the local kid’s museum.
Tantrum ensued. Followed by a timeout.
And another tantrum. And another timeout.
k
Now I am feeling horribly guilty for putting my daughter
 into timeout on her birthday. Twice.
Yes, I am catholic so feel guilty for just about everything
 that happens in my life but good golly, I put my daughter
 into timeout on her birthday. Twice.

As a result of the timeouts we decided to forgo
 the museum and hit the playground instead.
 Living in the Midwest during the most horrible winter on record
 (according to no one else but me)
 the only playground not buried
under a foot of snow was the mall playground.
 We weren’t the only ones with this idea.

But Molly had fun…until she had a meltdown
 for no apparent reason. She was crying uncontrollably
because she “stepped on a little kid.”
 She was the one who did the stepping,
not the one who got stepped on.
So why was SHE crying? Who knows.
l
Back home we go for some lunch reheated cooked to order.
Yes, I was somehow talked into another princess dress.
Just trying to salvage the birthday here.
 Just wanted my kid to be joyful.
Silly, silly grown ups.
 This decision eventually led to more tears,
but let’s not go there.
k
Naptime and dinner were fairly uneventful and I was lulled
into the false belief that everything was going to be okay.
So, for a third time I okayed the princess dress.
 And everything was great.

Until we got to the cake.
 I sliced up a piece of the left over expensive cake,
scooped out some ice cream, and lit some recycled candles.

Then it happened.
 I’m not sure I even remember what it was
 but it landed Molly in timeout. Again.
During her birthday song.
Yes, it did.

After everyone calmed down, and the princess dress was
 locked in the basement  neatly stored we tried the cake again.
Click on the picture to enlarge. You can still see
 the glint of tears in Molly’s eyes.
 But she managed to strike a princess pose
and we ate the expensive cake.
Happy Birthday? Not sure I’d call it happy.
Molly got cake and ice cream
 for the second day in a row, so she was pretty happy
but it was not what I expected. At all.
I expected puppy dogs and rainbows.
But you get what you get.

And it doesn’t change the fact that
 I love my girl more than I ever dreamed possible.
I celebrated her four years on this Earth with an
overwhelming appreciation that she is our daughter.

 Each time I climbed the stairs carrying
 a kicking and screaming princess to timeout,
 I was thanking God that I had
 this kicking, screaming princess to carry upstairs.
She is everything a parent could want and more.
Well, not the tantrums, but pretty much everything else.

So happy birthday my sweet child. Enjoy being four!
 Stay tuned for Birthday blog #3.
I promise much more sunshine
and many more puppy dogs than you got today!

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