The best day

Yesterday was my 29th birthday — hmmm, had better update the blog’s sidebar description to reflect that! — and it was pretty darn amazing.

It felt like the best birthday I’ve had in ages, and I think that is because of several reasons:

• I wasn’t stuck doing all of the monotonous everyday chores (diapers, dishes, cooking, laundry) that consume a LOT of time in my daily life
• I got to eat out at breakfast, lunch, and supper (VERY SPECIAL AND AWESOME)
• I got to go on a real date with Darling Husband (dinner and pool-playing)
• I got some very thoughtful, lovely, awesome presents that I REALLY wanted
• So many phone calls, texts, emails, tweets, and Facebook messages made me feel very special

I think as mothers — especially mothers of very young children — we are so accustomed to doing everything and BEING everything for everyone else, that we forget what it’s like to do or be anything just for ourselves.

I mean REALLY forget.

So when all of a sudden, there is a day when you are showered with gifts and attention, and people are telling you how much you deserve it, how hard you work, etc. you are … shocked. And it’s really wonderful, but just … so different! So nice! Wow, SO GREAT!

My birthday was exactly such a day, and it was a good reminder that I don’t (shouldn’t) need to go 364 days before feeling like that again.

I need to carve out more time for myself, and find little ways to capture that feeling of appreciated and deserving. Deserving of a cupcake, alone at naptime, or of taking an hour to paint my nails. Deserving of a thoroughly awesome date out with Darling Husband, where we can talk uninterrupted.

I deserve it.
My family deserves me at my best.
And I need days like this in order to BE at my best.


My delicious Black & White cupcake (thanks, Little Sis) that I ate during naptime, while watching delightfully trashy reality television shows about teenage moms. And then I painted cupcakes on my nails, and it was kind of the best thing ever!