This weekend, we celebrated Michael’s fifth birthday. Actually, we’ve been celebrating for over a week…
Since we decided that we weren’t throwing a big birthday party this year (last year, my hair caught on fire!), we had a few different smaller celebrations.
-We went to Chuck E. Cheese’s as a family last week at Michael’s request. To my pleasant surprise, we had a great time. We must have gone at a good time, because it wasn’t as hectic as normal. The pizza and wings even tasted better. Overall, I left thinking, “What recession? It definitely hasn’t hit Chuck E. Cheese’s!” (There was steady business while we were there and a crowd coming in as we were leaving.)
-Next up was a small celebration at Michael’s school on Friday. We had talked about it a month ago. Pizza and cupcakes was all that he cared about having. Simple enough. So why did a little girl in his class have a birthday party (the first that I’ve seen all year) a week before with a clown, face-painting, balloon making, etc.?! Of course after her party Michael said, “I want a clown too.” Here’s the crazy part – I actually considered getting him one. Then I thought about it – Michael doesn’t like clowns! He doesn’t like getting his face painted. He doesn’t even like balloon figures. No clown. No sir. Since his little celebration was on the first day of spring, I brought in spring-themed paper goods and cupcakes. I also gave out candy-filled (sorry moms!) pastel colored spring egg favors. Michael was happy. His little friends were happy. And I “Michael’s Mom/Mommy” (as the kids called me) was happy.
-Saturday was also fun. My husband took Michael and Sean to a birthday party earlier in the day. I was a little concerned that he might have a meltdown attending someone else’s birthday party on his birthday, but my husband said that he was fine. Later in the day, the family came over for a casual birthday dinner. I was tired, so we ordered a variety of food from Ollie’s Chinese Restaurant and some pizza and wings from Papa John’s. That kid made out like a bandit including several Nintendo DS video games, Ben 10 items and a Razor scooter. His grandfather walked into his room and said, “It looks like Santa Claus paid you a visit!” (It’s alright though. I had already cleaned out his room – The Salvation Army, our local library and a couple of Michael’s friends ended up being especially happy about his birthday too!)
-On Sunday, we took cupcakes to Michael’s kids’ class at church. The class sang “Happy Birthday” and I breathed a sigh of relief that the celebrations were over.
I can’t believe that it has been 5 years since I gave birth to my first son. The time really has gone so quickly! I remember thinking that I would go back to work when he turned 1, but couldn’t bear to do so. That’s how the whole “Mom in the City” thing began. I wanted my number one job to be “Michael’s Mom”. I lived on the Upper West Side at the time – hence “in the City”. It’s been such a joy being Michael’s mom (and now Sean’s mom) and being able to share parenting information along with “sprinkles” of my personal mom experience with so many other moms – from all across the world at this point!
So, “Happy Birthday Dear Michael, Happy Birthday to You!” Thanks for giving me the best “job” ever…
The Only Time That Michael Allowed His Face To Be Painted
My Little Gamer Boy (& His Cheer Team Leader Sean)