The Birthday Chatter Begins

He thinks I can just up and change the day I gave birth to him. Preferably to seven days from now. Mind you, his birthday isn't until the end of April. This is the sign that the Christmas giddiness is far behind us and he expects presents and excess toys to crowd me out of the house.

February has always been a relief to me. The stress of the holidays far enough to seem like a dream and the hectic springtime just a faint shadow on my horizon. Because when Bobby turns six on April 29, he'll kick off what I think of as birthday month--family birthdays crowded side by side like weary soldiers.

And he wants to change it.

I want to change his birthday!

The chatter is already beginning. Bobby wants a robot themed party at Chuck E Cheese. No wait, make that the park with a jump house and waterslides. No, scratch that. Now there is talk of kids in his class hiring a portable petting zoon (ah, think not!) or an old-school fire engine that drives right up to your curb where the kids can scramble in and out like sugar-drugged monkeys.

The birthday list begins. He wants a massive Star Wars lego set (I think not, I tell him. Take care of the legos you have because I'm sick of stepping on them with my bare feet. He wants a robot cake flanked with similar cupcakes.

And all I want is a couple months where I don't have to plan a blow out party or holiday event, where I don't have to make guest lists and budgets and all that.

Oh wait, I think it's time for me to buy those cheap valentines for the boys to pass at school parties.

Ah, it never ends...