I’m exhausted. I just returned to my nice, quiet apartment after spending the afternoon at my niece’s seventh birthday party. Don’t get me wrong, I truly enjoy hanging out with five children between the ages of three and seven years for an afternoon. (Maybe enjoy isn’t exactly the right word, but it’s very close.) I’m just incredibly grateful when I can say good-bye, get my hugs and walk out the door with my 14-year-old and go home.

I do love being the aunt. It’s one of my favorite roles. I get to hang out with the most adorable kids on the planet (my two nieces and three nephews), joke with them, answer their incredibly insightful questions, sneak extra M&M’s for them, buy them very cool books, play outside, watch cartoons and watch my brother and sisters squirm when I say fun things like, “What? Mom and Dad said you can’t do that. They probably didn’t understand. Let me talk to them.”  Did I mention I’m a fairly popular aunt? Too fun.

It was particularly nice to spend a little time with the birthday girl before the rest of the family arrived. Annie is such a little goddess. She loves ballerinas. She’s very into jewelry, long hair, skirts that flair out when you twirl and Groovy Girls. OK, she likes Barbie and the Disney princesses too, but that’s not my favorite part. My favorite part is that she also loves Sponge Bob, would rather be outside than inside and is fearless when it comes to trying new things like learning to ride a bike or a horse. She’s never met a carnival ride she didn’t want to try. Oh, she also loves vegetables and sharing the “bottom half” of her cupcakes. My sister blames the cupcake thing on me. I have no idea where she could have gotten that from.

As we got to the last page of “The Paper Bag Princess” (one of our favorite books – I highly recommend it), we heard my brother and his family pull into the driveway. Moments later, Keegan exploded onto the scene. This is truly the only way to describe an entrance by Annie’s favorite cousin. Keegan is our family’s drama princess. I mean this in a very good way. Her facial expressions, sweeping arm gestures and voice inflections are simply filled with a sheer passion for just being. You have to love that about a five-year-old! The entrance of the rest of her family paled in comparison. When she saw Annie she screamed and rushed over to give her a hug. “Annie, it’s so good to see you! I can’t believe I’m finally here celebrating your birthday!” I try not to imagine these two as teenagers.   

Kids’ birthdays are a big deal in my family. We believe their birthdays should be celebrated by all who care about them and should be one of the very best days they experience for the whole year.

Our basic traditions, as with so many other families, revolve around food. The birthday boy or girl gets to pick the dinner or lunch menu and the dessert. It’s not always cake in our family. We’ve had pie, brownies, cupcakes, a sundae bar and fruit. We always do the traditional singing and extinguishing of candles. There are always a decent number of gifts to be unwrapped.

My day is spent starting conversations, checking on kids, catching up on conversations, feeding kids, breaking up arguments, playing games, picking up toys, making sure Dad is surviving the noise, serving cake and ice cream, rinsing dishes, trying to work my way back into conversations, making sure Mom sits down for a few minutes, eating and laughing. It’s actually quite perfect. Everyone seems to have a good time, especially the kids. This is what birthdays should be.  

Once we’re home I start to think about the 14 birthday celebrations we’ve had for Max. I smile when I think of the Winnie the Pooh cake. I remember the look on his face when we celebrated at the zoo and he got to touch a snake for the first time. I wince when I think of the year he got roller blades. I almost laugh out loud when I remember last year’s adventure at a Japanese hibachi restaurant.

“Hey you, what’s your favorite birthday memory?” I ask him.

He pauses a moment and then smiles. “Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Can I get on the computer?”

He smiled. Yeah, we know how to do birthdays right.

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About Author:
Darcey Blain resides in Rockford, Michigan with her son, Max, and various pets. Her mother instilled her with an intense love of words and reading. She began writing short stories and poems in elementary school, but later turned to the more practical administrative field as she also enjoyed good food and a roof over her head. She eventually found her way back to the writing field by accepting the position of managing editor for North Star Writers Group. Editing and clarifying the work of others is definitely her strong suit, but she couldn’t hide her desire to create and write any longer.

Her favorite sweatshirt reads “That’s Ms. Liberal, vegetarian, tree-hugging, hippie freak to you, buddy”. That pretty much tells you everything you’d want to know.