When I think of the month of June, I envision newborn animals, warm weather, and blossoming flowers. It is a pleasurable month and somehow became one of the busiest for this family. Although I feign surprise in how the numerous events came to be in this month, I do have some responsibility as I have contributed to some of them.
I, along with my baby sister, was born within 10 days of Christmas and thus began my intense desire to NEVER, EVER inflict upon my children the curse of being born anywhere near this holiday. My children would never hear the words, "This is both your birthday and Christmas gift." Now, this yearly ritual from my childhood may never have left such a strong impact on me, but I do have my middle sister who was born on July 30th. Not only would this sister get fishing gear, swimming pools, and summer toys, she also made a killing in the presents department! Not once did I ever hear the dreaded words murmured to her about it being a dual gift encompassing two holidays. With this in mind, when Robert and I decided to start our family, great planning became an obsession for me. The infamous line about the best laid plans comes to mind when I think of our children and their birthdays. Our firstborn, Tyler, was to be born July 30th, but as his personality has always proven, he was impatient, came 6 weeks early and our tiny bundle of joy was born June 12th. At this point, I thought that was a wonderful time to be born with it being the month of Father's Day and my Dad's birthday on June 29th, not too busy for us. When we decided to have another child, the planning came back into play and our daughter Lindsay had a due date of July 12. I was so impressed with how well Robert and I timed this. Both of my children would be summer babies, not have to live with the curse of a Christmas/Birthday party, yet still be far enough apart to allow for separation of birthday celebrations. Again, best laid plans ended up with Lindsay being born 3 weeks early and 10 days after Tyler's birthday, one week before my Dad's and so close to Father's Day! Needless to say, June has been a month of parties, gifts, and careful planning in the financial department.
A few years ago, my son, being ever inquisitive and at times slightly judgmental asked why his Dad and I had his and his sister's birthdays 10 days apart. At that moment, I realized that no matter what a parent does, children can feel victimized by these people's best laid plans. When reflecting on the difficulties my parents must have had planning for Christmas and two birthday's in the same month, I finally understood what a great job Mom and Dad did. I realized in that moment how fortunate I was to have been "cursed" with parents who, despite overhearing the numerous complaints every holiday about their family planning skills, still made sure we had our birthday parties and gifts, but most importantly, knew without a doubt we all were loved everyday! Speaking of, I think I will end this blog and call my Mom and Dad to thank them for "cursing" us with their hard work, ethics, devotion, and love! I am so fortunate!
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