Six-year-old-in-the-house!

This morning I awoke to the sound of Ella coughing, not something I love to hear in any situation, but especially on her birthday.

She came in my room and I braced myself for her sickly cuddly mode to hop into bed and snuggle up, instead she leaned in and whispered

"Did you wrap my presents yet? and did Liana get me a present? cuz I got her a present for her birthday and I got Nina a present on her birthday.......(yadda yadda yadda-you get the picture)"

All year long when I tell her I will not be buying whatever new thing is being advertised during the Dora commercial breaks, she says to me

"Maybe for my birthday could you get me a _____?" And I usually take the chicken way out and say "Maybe, we'll see."

Starting in November she begins the conversations with "when it's my birthday I want to have sparkly bracelets for all the kids and I want to invite everyone I know and I want to have prizes and ...yadda yadda yaddda...!"

And I take the chicken way out and say "We'll talk about it when it is your birthday, we won't have everything, but we will have fun things."

This answer gets me through the other girls birthdays and holidays but it means that once the party is on the calander all bets are off, and my little diva must be tamed daily.

Don't get me wrong, she is grateful for everything and shares at the drop of a hat, but she just thinks soooo many things are fabulous that she can hardly contain herself when she thinks there might be one of the things she has been longing for wrapped up in ribbon for her.

So the party is scheduled and we have a plethora of sparkly, frilly things to do - the big thrill this year will be stringing their own candy bracelets. I am already anticipating the shrieking fun of a gaggle of giggly girls and mentally reminding myself to take ibuprofen before the headache sets in.

I ask myself why I want to throw a party each year, and I guess the reason is that I want her to feel special, I want each of my girls to be a princess for a day.

Growing up in a family of 6 children I never felt like my parents loved one of us more than the other, but it was sometimes a little too easy to feel a bit lost in the shuffle. My birthday was always a time where I did feel special, and I felt like people really did like me and that my opinions mattered. My Mom shared her birthday with me and only now I can really appreciate what that must have meant in self-sacrifice some years.

So thank you to my Mom who gave me the gift of life and the beautiful childhood birthdays that made me feel celebrated, even when my hairstyle and choice of eyeglasses weren't worthy of applause

And thank you Ella for reminding me what that feels like, and for the last time, I am not buying a Barbie that is taller than you! (But I might get a princess one with a horse!)