Happy Birthday, Babe!

 


 

It was DD’s B-day yesterday. She’s growing too fast for my comfort. I didn’t plan anything for her birthday; she managed everything herself.

“DD, your brother has a birthday invite for his friend’s birthday on the 24th.” I had mentioned it to her a month ago, to see how she’d respond. If I’m being honest, I wanted her to whine and complain that I would even ask such a question. The answer was that DS wouldn’t go. It was his big sister’s birthday after all!

“Sure,” she said. “I am guessing it’s in the morning or afternoon?”

“Yeah, afternoon.”

“Sure, he should go.”

“What about your birthday?”

“I haven’t planned anything for my birthday yet, and even so, I think I may plan something without a seven-year-old.”

“You’ll have your birthday without us? I have to take him to the party.”

“What about Papa?”

“I don’t know, he may be here, he’s still on the mend, from his ligament tear.”

“Hmm, that should work.”

“What?” I exclaimed.

“Mamma, if I plan anything it’ll likely be a movie and dinner. It’s going to be a musical. I know how you guys hate musicals. I may need Papa to take us to the movie theater because I am thinking of watching ‘Mean Girls,’ and here in Singapore it's 16+. I am not sure how strict they’re going to be. If they are, then Papa might need to be there.”

She was so clear in her thought process. But where’s the emotion? I was wondering to myself.

“We can definitely have dinner together. It doesn’t need to be on 24th; it can also be on 23rd, Saturday, so all of us can have a long night.”

She has thought of everything, yet she says she hasn’t thought of it,  I continued thinking.

Come 23rd… “So, shall we go to an Escape Room?” she asked.

“Yay!” DS screamed.

“Yes!” Ady agreed.

“Sure” I agreed too.

“Let’s go to the Escape Room and to that Thai restaurant that we went to a couple weeks ago. I liked the Pad Thai there.”

“I don’t like Thai,” DS interrupted.

“Too bad, you had your birthday and got what you wanted. Now it’s mine, and I get what I want. Besides, Mamma feeds you at home before we go out, so you should be fine.”

DS began to whine, and I was so grateful to take care of him and convince him that today was “Dika’s Day.”

DD had organized a Mean Girls Birthday Theme in Pink and she decided to host a party at home. It was too much of a risk to go all the way to the theater only to be told they don’t meet the age criteria.

“Mamma, can you buy donuts for us? I’ll get the pizzas from across the street.”

“Happy to help.” And I meant it.

And that was her simple birthday. Her friends arrived, all stylish in pink. The girls had a movie night, donuts, pizzas, and non-stop singing.

I wasn’t stressed in the least, but I missed planning for my baby. “You’re missing being in control,” Ady said, as if on cue.

“I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s the planning or her owning everything that’s making me sad.”

“Not sad. Proud,” he corrected me. “Yeah, proud, but I feel her slipping away.”

“And that’s OK. As long as we’ve prepared her for it.”

“Hmmm…” I sighed.

I missed the princess, fairy birthday parties. I missed the joyful scream on seeing the Frozen cake. I missed her incessant demand for new dresses and tights. I missed the shopping for return gifts…which reminded me…

“DD, make sure….” I tried adding.

“Mamma, relax. I got this.” And she did.  

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!


Image credit: ABP Cake shop

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