This Saturday we will throw a party to celebrate both of the kiddos birthdays. Being so close in age and still so young, we have their parties together for ease of planning and execution. Little Man will be 4 this month and Little Girl will be 2. Hard to believe how fast the time has passed. With the Toy Story theme selected, the final preparations have begun.
The Wifey is great at getting everything planned out to a science. I on the other hand have the habit of looking at where the stress points will be that day. Watching the kids while mommy decorates for the party, keeping the kids from running a riot in front of the community center where we are having the party, and the clean up process afterwards. Maintaining sanity in such a setting is sometimes a losing battle.
Don’t get me wrong, I love celebrating birthdays with the kids. The squeals of delight as they play with new toys and all the friends and family that come as well is music to my ears. For some reason though, these kinds of day also bring anxiety. This year seems to be even more anxiety driven, and I really have no explanation for it. Maybe it was the last minute switching of shifts to make sure I had the day off. I was originally scheduled to be at work during the party. Needless to say, that is not going to happen.
It is one day that daddy has to be janitor, security guard, and child herder all at the same time in a setting that is outside of the house. While these three rolls are common to be played together at home, they become extra overwhelming in an outside setting. A joyous day it is to be, but I will be thankful for the invention of headache medicine by the time the day is over. Despite the majority of planning and decorating being done by mom, the dad duties of the day have me doing some planning of my own. For example, at 8am I will take two Tylenol. Right at the start of the party I will drink a giant Red Bull. By 6pm I will move on to the Excedrin and rebound from my sugar crash.
The day will be many things all rolled into one. A grand day for the kids, and a long day for mommy and daddy. Thankfully the dad in me will allow for all of the joy and happiness to be the highlights of the day an the rest will just be the result of all the happiness. It is difficult at times, but I always try to not let the stress get to me. This is their day and they need me to be just as excited as them. I will be too. Until about 9pm. At that time a beer will open, a butt will hit the couch, and somebody (cough me cough) will start to gripe about sore feet. Until that hour, the celebration is on, and it’s time to party!
