A Birthday Tale

Today is my-ahem--27th or something like that--birthday. I've stopped counting.

(Note to younger sister: That makes you 25, please take note)

Picture if you will, an evening spent in the company of my lovely husband and beautiful children, phad thai noodles, holiday lights and music, handmade cards and gifts, and a family sweet enough to want to surprise me.

Sounds nice, doesn't it? It was nice, but not quite what you think.

I worked today, and planned to come home early enough for what I expected would be birthday dinner prepared by Grandma, as she often does on Wednesday evenings because she's an ANGEL who feeds her son's starving family.

Little did I know that darling husband had secretly plotted to cancel that dinner because he was going to sneak the kids downtown and sweep me away for a surprise birthday dinner. Except that kind of planning isn't easily done as a surprise. I have been known to ruin surprises, to drag them out of people kicking and screaming--it's not pretty.

So when I said I would come home early for dinner, he got nervous and had to tell me. So we planned for the kids to still think it would be a surprise. And we got realistic about the dinner idea. The kids know about the downtown holiday carousel and they know they ate at McDonald's before the carousel last year. So rather than struggle with tired, grouchy picky eaters who have been away from Mommy and Daddy all day, we gave in to the french fries.

So my lovely birthday did consist of a surprise visit downtown, handmade cards, and I did get Thai food from the food court at Westlake while the kids got McDonald's. We did see holiday lights and hear music while on the carousel. And no fits were thrown about McD's being out of the Madagascar toys and happily accepted the Hot Wheels car. Sometimes they amaze us.

Before you pronounce them perfect angels, the evening also involved drumming with chopsticks, whining about wanting to stay later, and crying in the car about where Mommy would sit since the front seat was full.

But you know, we'll take what we can get. And husband gets full points for planned surprise, thoughtfulness, handmade cards, and effort.

Proof of carousel ride. Some people get holiday card-worthy poses, we just get noncompliant almost-6 yr old attitude. Oh well, at least we remembered the camera...