Always the Last to Bed

Every Mom has one. A time of the year when literally everyone’s birthday happens all at once. Three kids born in February and a parent in March. Two kids born in June, a brother and also a Grandparent in June. When you reach the end of the month you say to friends, “I never want to eat Birthday cake again!” and your bank account is like your gas tank from all the driving around- to all the shops and parties- completely empty.

When friends text to ask you to make dinner plans, you explain, how about next month, it’s Birthday Season right now. Forget about being spontaneous during Birthday Season. All your free time is taken up by running to the store for birthday cards, extra wrapping paper. And going back to the store to buy more tape to wrap all those gifts. No time for happy hour or Zumba class.

During Birthday Season, Moms fall asleep thinking about RSVPs, are the gifts you bought enough? Will they be happy? What will you wear to the party? I can’t wear the same black turtleneck and jeans that I wore to Gavin’s party last week because everyone will remember them. What time do you have to leave Saturday to get to Grandma’s party on time? Did you accidentally buy your brother the same birthday card you did last year? The one with the avocado dancing on the front? It did look awfully familiar!

During Birthday Season you see all your in laws and family that you typically see at Birthday Season. Each season and at each event, you try to mix up the small talk. “What’s new in your world?”, “What are you watching on Netflix?”, “How’s work been?”. You can run through the scenarios before you even get there. Or if you have an especially large family like me, I run through all the names of my extended family with my husband and kids so they get a mini refresher before walking into the party- “Aunt Stacey is the one letting her hair go grey, Aunt Ellen looks just like her, but her hair’s not grey!”

If you walk into the kitchen in the middle of Birthday Season, not only might you see a birthday cake, but you might also see a half eaten cake, a few slices of another cake, but multiple tubs of sour cream for making dip, chilled Prosecco- opened and unopened, 5 kinds of cracker boxes in various stages of consumption, 6 different kinds of cheeses, at least two trays of mystery casserole, ziploc bags of leftovers, and about 14 Tupperware containers full of God knows what, because grocery shopping during Birthday Season isn’t regular grocery shopping, for Moms, it’s about shopping for the next party, and for the rest of the family, it’s about learning how to survive and eat meals during constant Birthday Season Prep.

Every kid and husband knows that leftover charcuterie is a perfectly good lunch, it’s best to scour around the fridge and just eat what’s there, and we’re having birthday cake for dessert for the next month! Definitely DO NOT walk into the kitchen and ask “Whats for breakfast/lunch/dinner?” On a weekend during Birthday Month!

Birthday Season creates a routine. a mindset. Moms are in the zone. They know when to be there, what to buy, what to wear. Who will be there. What time to make the food so it’s hot when the party starts. What music will be playing. What you’ll like to eat from the menu. How old the birthday person is. More importantly, what TIME IT WILL BE OVER.

I’m not saying Birthday Season is bad. I’m just saying Moms are tired. This is more about recognizing all the hard work Moms do around Birthdays. They’re the real Birthday Season Super Stars! Birthday Season weighs heavily on Moms more than anyone else. They want their kids and family to have perfect birthdays with core memories, keepsake pictures, and everyone having fun. They want everyone to feel special, everyone to have their day. And to all of you, I say GREAT JOB! You’ve done it again! You’ve an amazing job pulling off Birthday Season this year!

And no one noticed that you forgot to pour orange juice in their Prosecco when you offered them a Mimosa on Sunday, so stop thinking about it and go back to bed now! Or start that list for Maren’s birthday next month…