Holiday season is here
It's official. The holiday season is officially underway. Most may consider the holiday season Thanksgiving to Christmas. More ambitious people may even back it up to Halloween.
In our house the holiday season begins on Daughter #2's birthday — Oct. 6. Not only does it start early, it runs late — clear through till Daughter #1's birthday — Feb. 23.
For years I wasn't a big fan of traditional holidays like Valentine's Day, Halloween, and Christmas. I have, however, always thought birthdays were important and worth a celebration.
But
When the girls were small, they were happy with birthday cake and ice cream, grandmas, grandpas, and presents. As they got older we moved into the "multiple party stage" — one for family, one for friends, one for day-care friends, treats at school, and the list (and the party) went on and on.
Until recently Daughter #1 thought she had a "birthday month"
About the time they became teen-agers, and much to the dismay of younger cousins, they decided they had outgrown family parties. That was OK with me. There was a pang of regret and the realization they were getting older, but the relief of not having to organize a big event at our house sort of outweighed the regret.
That old "count your blessings" saying has some merit. While we had outgrown the birthday bash at the house, the rest of the birthday celebration got a little more complicated.
Instead of ice cream and cake, there were parties at restaurants, movie parties, shopping parties, or the occasional surprise party. It became a monumental task to get all the friends' schedules to correspond with a date agreeable for a day-long or weekend-long celebration.
When Daughter #1 reached 17, we downsized considerably
Maybe I'm just getting old, but a full-blown "family" party seemed like a lot more work at 18 than it was at 8.
Daughter #2 turns 16 today (Wednesday) and we spent the weekend in Kansas City celebrating. She and a couple of friends, Daughter #1 and the boyfriend spent Sunday at Worlds of Fun. Dad and I went along for the weekend, mainly to drive and provide a parental influence.
Tonight we'll celebrate again with other family members. The weekend may bring yet another celebration, yet to be decided. After that, it'll almost be time to hang the Christmas lights.
— DONNA BERNHARDT
