Birthday Week

We had a family birthday party this week. It's easy to forget how exciting a party is when you're turning 5 years old, and the party is just for you.
The days leading up to the big event were trying for the birthday girl's mom. All the excitement made good behavior a little harder for the birthday girl to come by. It's easy to forget how tantrums and drama can wear out a mom, too!
This time I didn't do a very good job of helping out. Caught up with my own responsibilities, I failed to see the little ways I might have eased my daughter's stress.
It's difficult these days, when all of us have so many things to do, so many legitimate demands on our time, to notice -- or have the energy to carry out -- the small kindnesses that might encourage or make a difference to the people around us. It's not an excuse or an accusation; just an observation.
The birthday party was a huge success, including the surprise blowing out of birthday candles by a 2 year old sibling, which meant the whole cake-and-candle part of the evening had to be re-enacted, with much laughter. The cake and ice cream were delicious and much appreciated, the gifts were greeted with joy, and the birthday girl -- and all the rest of us -- had a very good time, thank you very much.
But next time, I'll try to pay more attention so that the days leading up to the big party are fun for everyone, too.