You would think that, having had more at-home time on my hands than usual, I would have spent a lot of hours preparing for my kids' birthday parties. But suddenly the first was upon me, and I was completely UNprepared. So I spent much of today baking a cake, cleaning, and in general, worrying about my daughter's party. Had I arranged just the right things for her and her friends? Would the logistics come together, or were there gaps in my planning that would cause the whole thing to come crashing down?
And then I realized that this is a celebration of her birth a bunch of years ago. Though not planned to the nines, it is a party in a line of parties that have been uniquely hers. And it is an event that will occur just once this year. No matter how it comes together, it will come and go before I know it. So above all, I should make sure to enjoy it.
What? Enjoy it? It's my daughter's party--I'm just the organizer. Maybe, but how often do you have the opportunity to do a kids' activity? How often do you have the opportunity to make your own pasta bar and watch how different people approach it? How often do you have the opportunity to eat cake and ice cream and get a little extra icing because it's you who made the cake?
I find that as parents, and just as people in a busy world, we spend so much time making arrangements for everything, trying to ensure that things go off without a hitch, that we often forget to stop and enjoy the fruits of our labors. With the rush to the next event always upon us, we end up more concerned with continued accomplishment than with what we have actually produced.
So today, as I watched nine kids stuff teddy bears, and sing, and chow down on pasta with assorted sauces and cake with green frosting, I laughed and snapped funny pictures and licked the frosting from the spoon. Because a birthday comes just once a year. And you shouldn't forget to enjoy it.
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