From the Heart: Cancel the Birthday

I've been nursing a hot glue gun injury on my wrist for the past three days. That's because there has been some crazy late night crafting going on around here in preparation for Callie's birthday celebration. The other day I was teasing Callie saying that I was going to cancel her birthday this year. As I hugged and kissed and tickled her I told her she wasn't going to have a birthday this year because I wanted her to stay five forever. I tried to come up with as many reasons as I could as to why being five was better than being six. Simple reasons like the word five has 4 letters and six only has 3 so it must be better than five of the fact that she will have to use two hands to show how old she is. You know, real, legitimate reasons why I should cancel her birthday. In all honesty, I think I was really trying to say that year number five went by too quickly and I want to slow down the clock.

Her response to my cajoling was simply, "How would you feel if I cancelled your birthday and you didn't have any more birthdays?" I respected her rhetorical question and did not reply, "well actually..."

*****

While I've been doctoring up my third degree hot glue burns, Dr. Callie has had Jake on the operating table.

*****

This wrapping paper that I got on sale for fifty cents a roll has been the inspiration for our party plans. Fifty cents, as in two quarters, since today officially marked the end of the penny.

*****

I drenched the girls in baby lotion after their baths. I found it way at the back of the cupboard and smelling them all clean and lotioned in their cozy winter jammies took me back a few years and ultimately gave me another reason to cancel birthday number six. Some days I miss having babies.