Life This Week 27/11/2017: Best Birthday(s) Ever.


The best birthdays I’ve ever shared began way back on December 31, 2012. Preschooler SSG was born at around 10.45 pm and since then, New Year’s Eve has meant more to me than fireworks and glasses of champagne.  I reflect on the last year of Preschooler SSG’s life and how we’ve both changed and grown.  Each birthday is a little different from the preceding one in terms of its cake or the venue of the celebration but however we celebrate, we’re always surrounded by family, friends and laughter (for at least some of the day) and the occasional tear (thankfully there are less of these as we both get on a bit in age).

I remember the day Preschooler SSG was born and how the world seemed to suddenly shrink down to just the two of us in our hospital room.  I had no idea what I was doing as a first-time mother and he had no idea what this crazy place was that he’d suddenly been thrust into.  To a soundtrack of soothing white noise from my iPhone and the occasional prompt from our midwives, we somehow got through those first five days together.

Birthday Number One was celebrated at home with a group of fellow graduates of the ‘we made it through the first year’ school of life from my mothers’ group.  The house was pretty much stripped of anything potentially breakable by then because Preschooler SSG was both an early walker and a very capable climber.  The baby gates were his nemesis and he hated his cot which seemed to cramp his rolling while asleep style.  So he often took his naps on a mattress in the family room that was close to the ground.  Wish I’d known this before I’d invested in the cot I thought he’d use from birth to the age of four….

It was lovely seeing all our friends and it was probably the only birthday where us parents were able to still have relatively long and uninterrupted conversations with each other over our children who hadn’t yet learned to speak, tantrum or get into too much strife in an enclosed space.  We managed to last about an hour and a half before Preschooler SSG decided it the party was over which he declared with a loud and lengthy squawk-cry.  His guests joined in the chorus and they were all whisked away for a solid hour and a half nap in their respective car seats.

Birthday Number Two fell in a period of peak ‘Terrible Twos’ activity.  All I remember is constant movement, intense emotions and a trail of wrapping paper and food that seemed to follow Preschooler SSG wherever his little feet took him around the house.

Birthday Number Three was celebrated twice which I think will become a tradition for us due to Preschooler SSG’s birthday falling in the middle of school holidays and being a major holiday/cause for celebration in itself.  As three-year-olds, he and his guests were now starting to play with each other and were able to take turns at some party games and a treasure hunt I’d organized at home.  

New Year’s Eve began with some birthday cupcakes shared with my parents who were in Sydney to help us celebrate.

Last year’s fourth birthday party was great fun for young and old.  We went from wall to wall Thomas to wall to wall Toy Story…

plus a table of food and drink for the parents. 

One of my favourite parts of Preschooler SSG’s birthday parties (besides the champagne and cake) is the chance to catch up with the beautiful people I’ve gotten to know through Preschooler SSG.  We’re all often rushing from one place to the next when we do drop offs and pick ups so there’s often not much time to get to know each other.

Birthday Number Five will soon be upon us and preparations have begun.  We will be celebrating at a play centre this year which will be a lot less work for me but at the same time, I do enjoy the decorating and frenzy that leads up to parties at home.  We’ve got around three weeks to go but I’m bracing myself for the noise, energy and high emotion that I’m sure will be big features of the day.  I’m also meant to be making a cake, the theme of which is currently changing on a daily basis.  Watch this space.

Do you have a favourite birthday of your own?

As a parent, do you find each birthday of your children to be the best ever?


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