Growing up!

Daughters are a delight. From the time that they are born you just know this cute little hand which looks so frail right now is going to hold on to you and be your strength some day.

“Mom it’s my B’day tomorrow!!” I am reminded for the 100^th time today, the enthusiasm in her voice escalating with each reminder. Of course I know honey, I gave birth to you remember? My humor is obviously ill placed on a 5 year old and the excitement in my answer is no match for hers. At this point it is hard not to compare how different our outlooks are on Birthdays, me and my daughter’s. But then, growing up and growing old ARE very different.

Simplicity is not a virtue we possess when it comes to special days. By “we” I actually mean the girls of the house but since dear hubby is hopelessly outnumbered, he might as well join us. We go all out when it comes to celebrations, sometimes to the point of overdoing it. Want an example? Baby no. 1 has already made plans for her next 5 birthdays.

Coming back to this particular birthday, we were celebrating it 2 days in advance, for gone are the days when people made time for people on working days. Weddings, anniversaries, festivals and birthdays, everything is now celebrated over weekends, it is like fun has been compartmentalized to those days of the week. The birthday girl wanted it at Chuck-e- Cheese and we had no objection. I would have preferred doing it at home, giving the special day my personal touch but it looked too much of work and it wasn’t what she wanted.

What did she want? Which brings me to a few days before today. We were at the mall choosing a dress for baby no.1 and whoever said kids have a problem concentrating on a single thing for a long time probably never met the kid in question here. She roamed 3 giant stores with us, patiently waited while I found sizes for her and tried on 7 different dresses before zeroing in on the final choice. And if you thought she was exhausted (I definitely was), no wait, we need matching shoes now. She also did choose her own cake and by then I had serious doubts whether freedom of choice was a good thing. 


Wasn't it better when I was a 5 year old and there was no cake on Birthdays? Mom did cook some special sweet dish and that made my day. That too would be a speculation since I have absolutely no memory or photographs of what I did on my 5^th birthday.

So enter Chuck-e-Cheese on the day and it is a madhouse, as always. So much so that I am positive if people without kids attempted to visit, they would faint. Screaming kids, running kids, mad at their parents kids (for taking them home) and more kids. And in midst of all chaos there are several Birthdays celebrated all in a row with a giant mouse called Chuck doing the rounds.

For the next 3 hours we smiled a lot, ordered pizza for our guests and then ordered more pizza. For being a kids place, they had damn good pizza. Baby no. 1 had the time of her life being the center of attraction and also the receiver of so many gifts. She even reserved one of the return gift goodie bags for herself (I need to know what I gave to my friends).  

Do I look pretty, she asked me while we were going back. For all the trouble she took with choosing her dress, looking beautiful was indeed the last thing on her mind. “You are the most beautiful little girl in this world” I said, meaning every word.

Daughters are truly a delight. Sadly, they grow up fast, way too fast.

!   HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS  !