Happy Birthday To Me

Guess what!? It's my birthday! I'm 34 today.

Remember when you were young and time seemed to stand still? Days, weeks, months took forever. A year was an eternity! Yet now there are days You would do anything to freeze time. Relish in the moment. Actually really complete a to do list for real. Do you ever wonder why life's pace for a grown up feels full throttle compared to a kid who can hardly articulate the difference between yesterday, today & even last week? Sure life is busy busy when you are faced with grown up responsibilities....but have you seen my kids lately? They are just as busy! It was once explained to me like this one time: a 3 year old has been alive for 1095 days, compared to a 34 year old, who has been alive for just a few more, namely 12,418 days. One day out of 1095 is a much larger fraction of the 3 year old's life (& therefore much more significant) than one out of 12,418 days of grown up love, life & laughter...and all the other stuff that goes along with it...in this world. So it makes sense that yesterday, which was a slightly larger portion of our life, felt like it took slightly longer than today.

Enough about other people, back to the part about my birthday. I like birthdays.  I'm not one to hide behind the day pretending it isn't happening. Why not celebrate the anniversary of the single most significant day of your existence. It's kind of a big deal. In fact, I have a theory that birthday celebrations should last atleast a week. And heck, since time moves faster as you get older, you might as well tack an extra day on to that celebration every 10 years or so. Traditionally I have celebrated with a group of friends, whether it be a gathering at my place or (even better) out on the town where someone else can deal with my dirty dishes (you thought I was going to say something else didn't you?). Tonight? The Hubby works the night shift, so I will be at home rounding up, feeding, scrubbing & hushing & hustling & shushing my kids to bed. Most likely listen to my 8 month old cry it out (the worst!). Maybe bake a cake. Probably do some dishes. So thus is life. And to honest, I wouldn't have life any other way. Which makes it easy to be ok with being 34. But these responsibilities didn't stop me from inviting a couple of my younger 'less experienced' friends over to get in on the chaos of my life. Because birthdays should be celebrated. Even if it involves dragging your friends down with you... Suckers. Just kidding. It's fun here. Please still come!

I've always been A-OK with getting older. I think generally I've always been pretty happy with where I am in life, which helps I'm sure. But last week I had a realization smack me right in the face. In 5 years, which in the grand scheme of time is not that far away, my youngest will be in kindergarten, my oldest 10 years old. I'll be turning 39. 39 is almost 40, and for as long as I can remember, 40 is old. Yikes! Put that thought away. For now I think I'll just focus on enjoying 34, while I can still count the grey hairs on my head without my arms getting tired.

Celebrate with me by watching this clip from a very funny movie I watched recently, which confronts some of the hilarious realities of getting older . And then go watch the movie. 😂