Day 5 - Party planning
First, a pat on the back for remembering to write before 10:30 p.m.!
Now, what to write about today? Party planning!
I am in the last week of planning and preparing for my dear daughter's first birthday bash, followed in just three short weeks by my dear son's fourth. I am definitely in party-planning overdrive. I have two friends whose children's birthdays are within a week of each other, and I simply don't know how they do it! I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off with three weeks between the two, and these two moms have less than a week of lag time. Part of the problem is my perfectionist, type-A personality. If only I could be satisfied with an average (or even good) party, life would be a lot simpler. But alas, I must strive to throw two great parties! At least I can honestly say that my drive to make both of these parties truly wonderful is motivated fully by my love for my precious children, and not by any need to impress the party guests (read: other moms). While the need for affirmation from others is indeed a struggle I often have, it is surprisingly not a factor in this. I am driven in this purely by a deep desire to celebrate my children and make them feel special.
My dear husband has been so good about just letting me run with my ideas when he really cannot understand what the big deal is about the little details. For example, the ridiculously overpriced pink M&Ms on which I'm hand-drawing ladybugs with food coloring markers (bet you didn't know there was such a thing!). Oh, and did I mention I'm making 60 of them? My hubby is a dear, sweet man to roll with the punches when I look at him like he's crazy in the craft store as I'm picking up sheets of dark pink, light pink, and lime green cardstock for the custom birthday banner I'll be making for dear daughter, when he "could easily just bring home some extra construction paper from work."
"Do you have these colors?" I ask skeptically, showing him what I've chosen.
He shrugs, "Probably colors like that." I give him a look. "Seriously, who's going to know the difference?"
"I am!" And we both laugh at my silliness. Kidding aside, I really do love doing this. It thrills me to go to all of this effort for my dear daughter's birthday, despite the fact that she wouldn't know the difference if the balloons were gray and brown as opposed to my beautifully coordinated color scheme! Birthdays have always been a really big deal to me; perhaps because mine was so often forgotten by the two people who should have remembered it best. It is reasonable that that would be the driving force behind the fact that every birthday is a milestone birthday to me, and that each one deserves a very special celebration. I enjoy making each one a big deal, even if at present it seems like I'm a basket case with a to-do list two miles long. Every bit of it is worth it to make my those I love feel special and celebrated. The truth of the matter is, I'm incredibly excited about my little ladybug's first birthday bash, and my big builder's construction party soon thereafter. I guess, in a way, it's a little like writing (I know it's a stretch, but humor me here). Both party planning and writing are creating, each in their own way. Both are outlets for my innate creativity and imagination; they are avenues for creating beauty and joy. I hope that someday my writing is something that is appreciated by others...but even if that never happens, I'll gladly take the smiles on my precious kiddos' faces on their birthdays, knowing that the joy they're feeling is something I've helped create.
Now, what to write about today? Party planning!
I am in the last week of planning and preparing for my dear daughter's first birthday bash, followed in just three short weeks by my dear son's fourth. I am definitely in party-planning overdrive. I have two friends whose children's birthdays are within a week of each other, and I simply don't know how they do it! I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off with three weeks between the two, and these two moms have less than a week of lag time. Part of the problem is my perfectionist, type-A personality. If only I could be satisfied with an average (or even good) party, life would be a lot simpler. But alas, I must strive to throw two great parties! At least I can honestly say that my drive to make both of these parties truly wonderful is motivated fully by my love for my precious children, and not by any need to impress the party guests (read: other moms). While the need for affirmation from others is indeed a struggle I often have, it is surprisingly not a factor in this. I am driven in this purely by a deep desire to celebrate my children and make them feel special.
My dear husband has been so good about just letting me run with my ideas when he really cannot understand what the big deal is about the little details. For example, the ridiculously overpriced pink M&Ms on which I'm hand-drawing ladybugs with food coloring markers (bet you didn't know there was such a thing!). Oh, and did I mention I'm making 60 of them? My hubby is a dear, sweet man to roll with the punches when I look at him like he's crazy in the craft store as I'm picking up sheets of dark pink, light pink, and lime green cardstock for the custom birthday banner I'll be making for dear daughter, when he "could easily just bring home some extra construction paper from work."
"Do you have these colors?" I ask skeptically, showing him what I've chosen.
He shrugs, "Probably colors like that." I give him a look. "Seriously, who's going to know the difference?"
"I am!" And we both laugh at my silliness. Kidding aside, I really do love doing this. It thrills me to go to all of this effort for my dear daughter's birthday, despite the fact that she wouldn't know the difference if the balloons were gray and brown as opposed to my beautifully coordinated color scheme! Birthdays have always been a really big deal to me; perhaps because mine was so often forgotten by the two people who should have remembered it best. It is reasonable that that would be the driving force behind the fact that every birthday is a milestone birthday to me, and that each one deserves a very special celebration. I enjoy making each one a big deal, even if at present it seems like I'm a basket case with a to-do list two miles long. Every bit of it is worth it to make my those I love feel special and celebrated. The truth of the matter is, I'm incredibly excited about my little ladybug's first birthday bash, and my big builder's construction party soon thereafter. I guess, in a way, it's a little like writing (I know it's a stretch, but humor me here). Both party planning and writing are creating, each in their own way. Both are outlets for my innate creativity and imagination; they are avenues for creating beauty and joy. I hope that someday my writing is something that is appreciated by others...but even if that never happens, I'll gladly take the smiles on my precious kiddos' faces on their birthdays, knowing that the joy they're feeling is something I've helped create.
12 down, 48 to go!
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