Another Year Older

I aged another year into my thirties this weekend. Like a fine wine. Well, I don't really care for wine, so how about a nice whiskey? At this age, birthdays are really just like any other day. There's no special pass releasing you from parental duty & responsibility, no carefree attitude of where the wind blows I go anymore. I don't care that I'm getting older, or have one more grey hair. It's really just another day. I feel no different from Friday.

Saturday-the day of family & hell, otherwise known as my birthday:

We ran some errands and ended up at a local pizza joint for lunch with the kids. The pizza is delicious and there is a fun room for the kids. Great. Except my kids chose Sat to be their "hell" day. We had a nice lunch for about 40 minutes and then things went a bit haywire. Phoenix was throwing everything in reach on the floor and Ariana wouldn't eat her pizza because "it smells." Um, you've eaten here before. Since we told her she needed to eat good before she could play, the result was no game room. Which pissed her off royally. I'm not one to force my child to eat, but this was ridiculous. After loading up the "throw it on the floor" dude, the whining four year old of ours decided to pitch a fit. In the middle of a birthday party next to us. With lots of other customers around us. A fit as in I have to physically pick her up and remove her from the booth, while she's screaming "No, mommy!" and "I'll eat". Lovely. Too frickin' late my child. She cries the two miles to grandma's house, where she cries some more. I admit that I am now pissed as it's my birthday and the one freakin' day she acts like this, is today. We get the kids settled and then leave for our dinner out.

Jason and I have a nice meal at Texas Roadhouse and do a bit of shopping before coming back to my inlaws for cake. It was a very nice evening.

Until we got home. It's late, past our kids' bedtimes, and we end up with another four year old tantrum. I'm in tears and just want her shut up. (Come on, moms. You know the tension I'm feeling at that moment.) I want peace & quiet, not a screaming child who is throwing toys at her bedroom door. Finally, she relents and gives in to sleep. I took my time composing myself and to be honest, cannot recall what I did the rest of the evening. Oh yeah, we played a quick game of Life, where I beat my husband's add in a major way.

End of day.

It was a good birthday.

The past year has been a tumultuous one for me. A year of happiness, pride, heartache, sadness, joy, and yearning. I've laughed, cried, yelled, kept quiet, and more. I'm sure this next year will be another fun journey in this thing called life.