Princess Happycakes (that would be Jenny) can’t wait for her birthday. My “happycakes” coming soon, Mom? she queries multiple times every day. Sure it’s coming soon, I tell her. Eight months really isn’t a long time. But then I remind her of all the other birthdays to come first: Billy’s, mine, Fritz’s, Petey’s, Katie’s, Daddy’s and then finally hers. In other words, she had the most recent birthday in our immediate family and has to wait the longest. But time does fly, for us grownups at least, so it will be her birthday before we know it. Heck, I’m afraid to go to sleep at night for worry that I’ll wake up and one of my kids will be heading off to college.

Just kidding. I’m so tired at the end of the day that it is no trouble at all for me to fall asleep. Usually I lay my head down and think, “Dear God, thank you for…..zzzzzz”

Speaking of birthdays, all of my kids are born in the second half of the month. {mental note: plan better next pregnancy} This means that it hits a child’s birth month, for example, Billy’s birthday is the 25th of this month, and we all suffer through the agony of waiting for all those days to pass. Well, the birthday child suffers and the rest of us suffer listening to his suffering. February is the l.o.n.g.e.s.t month of the year because there are no distractions in the weeks leading up to the “big day.” At least for Christmas, there is decorating and baking and shopping. For the spring and summer birthdays, we can do stuff outdoors and keep the mind off the calendar. But February is just one long month of wait.

Only 17 more days.