Yesterday was Jade’s 14th Birthday:
I remember the day she was born. I had to rent a car and drive to my hometown in order to be there for her birth. I was lucky that I worked for someone at the time who valued important family events over whatever it was that I would have gotten accomplished that day.
We waited and waited and waited outside the room. I literally had my ear pressed to the door of the room when I heard her very first little baby cry. I held her only moments later and I thought, “Oh My God (not OMG, but a real prayer) this is unconditional love. This is it!” I was completely stunned at the feeling. I would never love anyone the way I love her because she actually TAUGHT me to love. Just by being born.
Now she lives with me and is my oldest. Everyday I hope that I am “enough” for her — that although I cannot replace mom and dad, that she knows I love her so deeply, so profoundly that even when I want to pull my hair out over “8th grade girl-ness” I would never want anyone but her as my oldest. I cannot believe that 14 years has gone by and that she is so close to entering high school. As I sat on our big chair with her tonight after the family birthday party,we thumbed through her brand new cookbook and tried to find a good recipe for to try. It felt a bit like hanging out with a friend. She has always been a kindred spirit. We are both alpha females, both emotional, both resistant to change and both sarcastic to a fault.
A year ago for her 13th birthday a group of women gathered around her and proclaimed her value, her worth, her preciousness before us and before God.
I am so glad I don’t have to do it alone and that there is an amazing collection of women to embrace her and remind her of her worth.
I mean, other than the fact — as is so very obvious in the photo — that we’re a bunch of hooligans-turned-party animals.
So, Happy Birthday Jade. You are dearly loved.
I’ve got a bone to pick with George Vernon Hudson, the man who first suggested Daylight Savings Time. He made this suggestion, mind you, so he would have more daylight hours in the evening to study bugs. Yup. B.U.G.S.
George Vernon Hudson (Wikipedia)
But I think the night we spring ahead is just about the the worst night of the year.
I hate that night.
It is the night that the “powers that be” punish sleep-deprived mothers in favor of…. well, I am not sure what we are actually supposed to gain from SKIPPING an hour ahead. (See? Just saying that… writing it… feels wrong.)
I know what I gained.
First, my baby is totally thrown off her sleep schedule. Ya know, the one we carefully crafted and molded into something we could all tolerate. Yeah, well that nano-moment of bliss is over.
Next, I am pretty sure I overdosed on caffeine Sunday morning. Resulting in the jitters. Which resulted in a lot of pacing around. Which hurt my foot. So, now I have a hurt foot. Well, to be fair, my foot already hurt. But now it hurts more.
The whole day reached confusing levels when we kept using the terms “body clock” and “actual clock” back and forth in an attempt to decipher what time it really was.
And how should we refer to this day? As a “holiday? Well, as far as holidays go, this day is really lacking. Really, FLAG DAY is better than Spring Ahead day. Even LABOR DAY which is a day dedicated to, well, labor, is better that losing that precious hour. In fact, I am pretty sure this day ranks below NATIONAL CROCHET WEEK and NATIONAL BUBBLE WEEK — which were both last week. I kid you not. In fact, here are a bunch of holidays in the month of March that I am sure I would rather celebrate than losing that precious hour of sleep.
March 1 – National Pig Day. Who doesn’t love bacon?
March 6 – Dentist’s Day (and you all know how I feel about dentists…)
March 9th – Be Nasty Day. This one actually sounds good, if you can pull it off. I pretty much honor this day each morning in the minutes between waking up and my 8th cup of coffee.
March 10 – Middle Name Pride Day. Mine is “Lynn.” Woo-Hoo… Go LYNN!
March 13 – Ear Muff Day, strategically positioned the day BEFORE Spring Ahead.
March 23 – National Chip and Dip Day. Now we’re talking!!!
March 31 – National Bunsen Burner Day. Dave will love this. It’s a chemistry teacher’s dream come true!
But my favorite day, the day I most look forward to (and my husband will attest to this) is the day we FALL BACK. Now, that’s a day I can fall in love with.
Remember back to when I mentioned that Feburary was DENTAL HEALTH MONTH? Well, I had asked you to please warn me when POKE YOURSELF IN THE EYE month was coming? Remember all that nonsense? Well, I am so glad I brought it up. Because my friend, Beck, was the first (and only, I might add) to warn me that MARCH is, indeed, POKE YOURSELF IN THE EYE month!
Ah man. I am so glad someone told me.
So glad.
Here is how we celebrated:
She said, “Hey, this girl doesn’t even flinch… wow!”
I guess, technically, Izzy isn’t poking HERSELF in the eye. But, it was the best we could do.
Ya gotta love it when your 12 year old girl depicts your family as NINJAS!
Our family.... as NINJAS!
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY from all of us over here at the MamaBloo household.
May you defeat all your enemies, be one with nature, and always have someone to “watch your back.” Even if it is an 11 month old crawing Ninja… in yellow.
