Birthdays!

Today marked the beginning of what I refer to as Birthday Season for our family. The girls went to one party today(Happy Birthday Macy), they have two tomorrow, two next weekend and the weekend after that followed by one the weekend after that and I'm probably forgetting at least one. Maya's is actually one of them. Last year I would have debated letting the girls go to all the parties and I admit that I considered not even having a party for Maya.

Birthday parties can be a bit of a pain for parents. If you are the one hosting it you struggle with who to invite and not invite. You try to decide on a venue, food and a time that works for everybody. Some people look for the perfect invitations and decorations and even pick a theme. Some people hire clowns, magicians, musiciens etc. to entertain the little ones and make the party memorable. Don't forget all of the loot bags that you try to put together. Then for 2-3 hours you live in absolute mayhem with a whole bunch of little kids running around like lunatics! At the end your child has more toys than you know what to do with and you are left with a big mess to clean up including all of the food that you had carefully chosen and wasn't eaten. If you are really lucky nobody has left you any vomit to clean up.

If your child is attending many parties it can become a bit costly and time consuming. I always like to look for that perfect gift for the child and can end up becoming quite frustrated as I drag my children from store to store.

This year is different however. The Lucas' have decided to embrace and celebrate all birthdays in honour of a little girl that didn't even make it to her first. For all of you that will be seeing us at the parties in the next few weeks we are honoured that you have included us in marking a very special day in your child's life. We feel blessed to have you in our lives and will celebrate any occasion you would like. After all, you only get to be 3 or 5 or 1 once. You only get a 5th anniversary once, to graduate once, get married once (hopefully) etc.

One thing that I have learned about kids' birthdays is that if you just throw them all in a room with a few toys or balloons they will make it fun. They often don't eat half of the food you make and couldn't care less if you cleaned up the house before they came. While they do love their loot bags they are usually happy with anything to take home. Give a kid a box of Smarties and they'll love you forever! Parties don't need to be stressful.

Adults are a bit different in that they often eat the food. In fact, many of them will come just for the food. Throw a bunch of adults in a room with some food and drinks and they'll make it fun too. Music often helps.

Thank you Georgie for teaching me to live in the moment and to celebrate all that life has to offer without getting stressed out!

Thank you Carling and Tinsley for choosing to have your friends make donations to Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy Canada instead of gifts. While you may just be turning 14 and 12 repectively we could all learn a lot from you.

Love to you all,

Kristen