Recently, we celebrated my daughter, Charlotte’s second birthday. And, while it was four days of festivities (that lucky toddler!), I couldn’t help reflecting upon how different it was from her first birthday.
Looking back on June 2019, those non-pandemic days were still crazy. I had a work conference and bachelorette party the week before Charlotte’s birthday party followed by my brother’s wedding the weekend after. It was a jam-packed month of joy, but there were struggles too.
I’m sure many other moms of this generation can relate to the Pinterest pressure and a sea of DIY crafts and projects all claiming to be “easy”. It was this platform that left my husband and me baking Mickey Mouse cookies until nearly midnight due to an assembly line of not only baking the cookies, but making, dying, and painting the frosting. This was all before wrapping them up in baggies with ribbons on the day of the party and realizing the baggies had gone missing…
Flustered about my outfit being wrinkled and after multiple changes, I raced to Michael’s. What I had hoped would be a quick errand left me aimlessly roaming the store. Finding myself in a long line, I cut in front of a woman, who wasn’t paying attention on her phone. This is a low point that I still cringe about, and wish I could take back.
Moreover, I worried if my house was clean enough, or if there was ample food to feed all our relatives. We had leftovers for days. Food that which, Charlotte was too young to eat.
Fast forward to 2020 and while there were no hugs from our 14 relatives, there was no shortage of love during two socially distanced celebrations with both sides of mine and my husband Scott’s families.
Charlotte was given so many wonderful gifts that she loves by her parents and extended relatives. And yet, out of all the thoughtful presents, there’s an old baby doll of mine that she continues to obsess over.
While both birthday celebrations were so wonderful, one thing the pandemic has taught me is that simple is ok. It’s more than ok, it’s kind of wonderful. And, for all mother’s out there stressing about making your child’s birthday perfect. Don’t because the only thing your child will remember is the love from their family.
Lauren's Law 