Last month, I celebrated my 10th anniversary of motherhood when Vivian turned 10. Her birthday hit me hard. TEN years?! I vividly remember turning ten and my Mom tucking me in at night. As she walked away she said that for the rest of my life, I’d be in double digits. I responded and said that I would not always be in double digits because someday I’d turn 100. And now I have a daughter who is ten and who is so much like me. Being a mama for the past decade has been the hardest and best thing I’ve ever done. The memories from all the ups and downs can simultaneously break my heart and make me smile. Enough about my emotions, though – this post is really meant to document Vivian’s 10th birthday and also William’s 6th and Lillian’s 8th.
Life is busier than every – in good ways. But we are moving out of state and that does add stress to our already crazy schedule. So this year for birthday celebrations, we stuck to our simple traditions. We didn’t host parties, but we did celebrate with balloons, a few gifts, cake, and favorite foods.
Vivian Turned 10
On Vivian’s 10th birthday, she was away at a weekend camping trip in Long Beach with her Girl Scout troop. Honestly, I was heartbroken not to have her home, but I also wanted her to have this special experience with her friends. In the morning, even though she wasn’t home, I bought balloons for her, along with mini cupcakes, to surprise her with at her campsite. While I was driving in the car with the balloons, William hit one of them and it popped. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back in my emotional dam. I was so upset that I’d have to present her with a sad, half-deflated birthday balloon in Long Beach. I could not stop crying about it. Eventually, Dan stood up and left the house without saying a word and when he came back, he had a new balloon with him. We were able to surprise Vivian on her camping trip, which pleased her. As emotional as I was about not being with her all day, she was not. When I saw her with her friends having fun and happy, it made me unexpectedly happy, too. She is independent, content, and at peace, which is exactly how I want her to feel when she’s with me or away from me.
When she came home from her camping trip, we properly celebrated with gifts and a cake of her choosing (ice cream from Baskin Robbins).
It’s hard to believe that the intelligent, well read, organized, thoughtful, engaging, and caring 10-year-old I have with me now was a tiny newborn baby entirely reliant on me ten years ago. We both have grown so much over this past decade. I am eternally grateful that she is my eldest daughter.
William Turned 6
Our boy is finishing kindergarten and now he’s 6! Although he didn’t have a party, he had a Little League baseball game and celebrated his birthday with his team afterwards with mini cupcakes and singing. At home he had balloons, presents, and a Super Mario cake straight from the bakery at the grocery store (a first for me).
At 6, William is energetic, a snuggler, learning how to read, and very loving. He’s still best friends with Lillian, but he also easily makes friends wherever he is. I love having him as our one boy among the girls.
Lillian Turned 8
I swear Lillian is still my little preschooler. But she’s not! She’s now 8. On her birthday, she had a Girl Scout meeting and so her troop celebrated her with little gifts, mini cupcakes, and singing. At home we had balloons and another grocery store bakery cake. I had planned to make her cake myself, but she said she really wanted a cake with her name on it, like William had, so I obliged.
Lillian is patient, kind, sweet, caring, smart, and good at most anything she tries. She is very social and seems to have a million friends wherever she goes. She loves to laugh, is still best friends with William, and will forever be Daddy’s Little Girl.
There it is – three small celebrations for three amazing kids highlighting my first decade of motherhood. I felt a little guilty for not throwing them big parties or coordinating celebratory events, but they didn’t seem to mind and I think my guilt stemmed from society, not them. They are all happy, healthy, and now, another year older. Gosh, I love them so much!
The Chambers Family - A.D. 