Hello and howdy, blog readers. Welcome to Birthday Month for my two girls, Ashley Lynn and Sarah Olivia Valdez. Let the trumpets trumpet. Let the heralds herald. And let the pen sign with a flourish across check and credit card receipt!
This practice of birthday month celebration -- an endearing and annoying exercise in happy-happy-joy-joy, depending on who's reading your constantly updated status posts on Facebook -- began last year during my 40th birthday month, that would be November, after a particularly lively get-together with the Earth Divas. (One of you will have to chime in on the comment section and remind me who got this ball rolling!) It was decided that one of our tenets would be the application of a daily merriment-making in recognition of our birthdays for the ENTIRE month in which the actual date was situated. Brilliant. Truly inspired.
Personally, I feel it was a smashing success and has been the springboard for others who would benefit from adopting the habit: a best pal o' mine in New Mexico comes to mind who enjoyed a particularly joyous jubilee during August, and even a bit into September, for her watershed 50th birthday. This brand of merrymaking works well for all ages and any age, but is super appropriate (first time with that phrase, folks) for those hallmark passages of time. Think decades, coming of age, ability to imbibe legally, etc.
My dishy daughters will hit the 21st and 18th years of their young lives. A week apart. One wishes for an ice cream cake and to spend the day at a vineyard owned by local country music celebrities; the other desires a three-layer coconut cake with lemon curd and a pass to attend various Halloween parties with her peers. Homemade confections, of course! And, they both declared an express need for one of my rare and humorously personalized Hoe-Bags. Mom better be up for the task -- I sense in the near future a great many cups of my husband's stout leftover coffee laced with honey and almond milk, supported, perhaps, by a once weekly supplemental Starbucks soy latte.
In the meantime, each day is a celebration for me as I fondly recall their feisty childhoods. Over the weekend, I dug through the box of 35mm pictures. The circumstances behind every shot still fixed firmly in my memory. They both flitted in and out of their toddlerhood in a halo of bird's nest curls. Ashley was often caught in playful expression though she was prone to princess pouts and public displays of displeasure; Sarah generally waxed more turbulent when troubled or vexed but so precious when at play. Now, it all seems an honor to have fumbled and fouled my way through mommyhood on their behalf. Because, after all, don't most hindsight recollections reside in a dreamy haze whereby youthful fits of passion seem fleeting and ephemeral, and their wide-eyed sweetness takes center stage in an endless pirouette of little girl grace and beauty?
So, join me as I commemorate the births of my one and my two, with daily revelry and hullabaloo from here until November. Start your own birthday month celebration. For yourself. For a friend. For a loved one. For a pet, if you must. It's all for fun. Intentional and purposeful fun.
i really like this blog mom! :) good job! love ya
ReplyDelete