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Happy, Merry Birthday
It’s hard for me to think how to make this something grander than just a personal vignette in the life of a suburban mom. Sometimes (frequently?), my pet peeves can be quite shallow.
But I suppose everyone has one of those silly, shallow things that you swear would ruin your life if it ever happened to you, but you really don’t mean it at all. It’s those things you mildly wished wouldn’t happen, but recognize their happening really isn’t that big a deal and maybe the half-hearted animus to this event that actually happens may make for a fun story on Murphy’s Law or serendipity.
This is one of those stories.
I grew up in a large family – there were five of us kids – and nearly right from the start, three birthdays landed in May. Wedged in there is Mother’s Day, and as siblings grow and age out of the school system, so do five graduations. May was uniquely cost prohibitive for me, and I was always generous in my gifting.
It was quite silly, but perfectly understandable, that I should desire not to have a child with a May birthday. Heaven forbid.
Right out the motherhood gate, God seemed to be laughing at my plans. At 24, I got the news on Labor Day weekend that I was due in May. Really? The day before my Dad’s birthday, in fact. I bemusedly made my peace with the matter, only to have my baby three weeks early. He celebrated his 11 birthday this past April. It’s hard to believe I’ve been a mother so long.
I easily missed on the second one. A planned pregnancy, she was conceived in May instead. No need to celebrate that…
Really, I thought I had succeeded in avoiding that dreadful May day. Perhaps you’ve already guessed that God has his jokes when (wo)man plans.
Not planning to have any more kids, in October 2014, I got the news… an unexpected third was due June 6. I knew. Both of my others were early. I expected this one would not make it to June. I was not wrong.
On May 23, 2015, May got a little bit merrier…
Happy Birthday to my Pipsqueak.
Boy, I hope He is.
… and happy birthday, Pipsqueak, wherever you are.
What a great story! :-)
Enjoy this month. At least the weather and the flowers are gorgeous. Great time of year to be busy with birthdays. :-)
This is an old picture, but I suffer from that problem of nearly all the pictures are of him sleeping (the only time he “lets” me).
This one captures his personality well. He’s a bit on the small side – just getting into size 4 clothes at age 5 – and he has an impish character to go with an impish smile.
This after a haircut. He hates those, so this only occurs around once every 9 months. He’s typically sporting much longer hair.
Honestly, he’s the light of his momma’s eye. He has my heart in his little hands.
A great post and a great kid. Stina, you are blessed.
Thoroughly delightful post.
Wonderful. Kids are such a blessing.
So handsome already!
In our family of six, four of us including mom and dad all had birthdays in January, and one had hers just before Christmas (the lone outlier was in October). So, starting every Christmas season we all went broke.
My brother and I share a birthday. We were born the same day two years apart. We have a mutual non-gift policy.
Ha ha. That’s pretty cool :)
As are we all.
He’s an adorable little guy!! In my birth family, we clumped a bunch of birthdays together in February–three in one week. Then, we my sisters/brothers and I started having the next generation, we completely overwhelmed November! It’s weird how birthdays will fall in a family!
I met a great friend when her family moved into our neighborhood. They had seven children, all born within three weeks of each other’s birthdays in February/March. One child was born in July. I finally got up the courage to ask her. She’d planned it that way so that the kids would all be mature enough by the time they got to Kindergarten age in September. The July brother was the result of her miscarrying a baby one year–and she really wanted to have another kid that year.
Do your part to share a bit of humor, dry or rich, high or low brow. Stop by and sign up for a day in “A Merry Month.”
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May is a busy month for us, too! Me and my husband have birthdays four weeks apart. With extended family, we have, on my side, at least two birthdays a week. Throw in Mother’s Day, graduation, and Memorial Day, it makes a full month!
My aunt had a baby on her birthday! And it’s the same day as my best friend’s birthday.