An Abundance of Birthdays

 

 

This week has been what we’ve come to refer to in our house as “birthday week.” My two oldest sons have birthdays within four days of one another right after the Fourth of July.

 

I do not recommend this birth plan for any wanna-be moms who may be reading. Having birthdays this close together is definitely not for the faint-hearted or the financially challenged.

 

I should know as I am in both of those groups. Still, each year, during the first week of July, I am forced to make all manner of birthday magic happen.

 

It's not always easy.

 

Even though the boys’ birthdays are so close together, we’ve always tried to celebrate them separately and in their own way. For example, the birthday child is allowed to choose the type of cake he wants (ice cream cake or regular,) as well as what we’ll have for dinner that night. The older two usually pick restaurant meals for their birthday dinners, but my youngest always asks me to cook him something special at home. I’m not sure if these choices mean that Evan really likes my cooking while the other two do not or if the older ones simply like eating out more than Evan does. Since there aren’t many kudos given out for this parenting gig, I’m going to imagine that everyone loves my cooking; Evan just loves it more.

 

When the kids were small, birthdays were active, noisy affairs. We’d have parties with grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. Now, all these years later, so many family members are no longer with us; the older ones having passed on, and the younger ones busy with families of their own. As a result, our celebrations these days are much smaller and quieter. The hurried assembly of a roomful of toys has given way to presents such as music gift cards or video games that take up far less space and require no parental involvement.

 

Busted budgets and dinner choices aside, as each year progresses, I’m even more aware of how many of my kids’ birthdays are already in the past. Before long, I won’t be the central person planning the festivities. Soon they’ll have girlfriends, then wives, then families to do it for them. If I’m lucky, my role will become that of an invited guest. I will tuck some money into cards and join them for cake. I'll wear sensible shoes and chin hair, and I'll tell lots of stories about when they were little.

 

If they’re lucky, I’ll behave and keep the embarrassing ones to myself.