A Birthday Post

I've recently discovered a mother's birthday dilemma. Birthdays are supposed to be a somewhat special event; a unique day compared to the other 364 days of the year. My attitude toward birthdays has been pretty nonchalant, as my parents kept them quite simple in our family. We would choose where we wanted to go to dinner and we would receive handwritten birthday letters. No presents once we were 12. (What is it with my parents and being 12 years old?)

But I digress. As my birthday neared, Paul questioned me about birthday ideas, gifts, and other fun festivities. I insisted time and time again that I didn't want anything. Finally my 25th birthday rolled around. I woke up to breakfast in bed, which was lovely, but then the day unrolled like any other... because I'm a mother. I did dishes, swept and cleaned up after children, dealt with a daughter that didn't want to nap and had to hold down the homestead.

I found myself disappointed. It was my birthday, for Pete's sake! I didn't want anything, but at the same time I did. I wanted a reprieve. A break from the mundane daily tasks I do each day. But as a mother, there are certain things I won't ever stop doing. (Like laundry, why is there always more laundry??)

And thus we find a mother's birthday dilemma. The desire for a special day while still balancing the responsibilities of everyday life. The easy solution is to grow up and get over it because, let's face it, that's life. But a prettier sounding solution it to accept the ordinary and embrace the little things. It's all in the details. If we don't accept the mundane, we get caught up in life and miss the beauty of the those small, yet significant, moments.