Ready To Remember

I officially turn 39 today.  Honestly.  My life today would have been unrecognizable 6 years ago before motherhood snuck into my life.  I went from being ambitious, smart, occasionally witty, adventurous, and fun….. to….. counting the minutes to naptime, making sure 48 hours don’t pass between showers, counting on my fingers.  I now spend my days as a stay at home mom with 3 awesome kids – Elise (6), Stephen (2), and Rachel (2).  Since I had the twins, I have become a bit of a spectacle in our strangely small town.  No longer can I duck in and out of anywhere unnoticed.  When I tell friends and neighbors who are wiser moms of older kids about the events of my week, they will many times tell me that I should write it down so I don’t forget.  My initial reaction is that I will NEVER forget…but then sleep deprivation hits and I do.

So today – 39 – my last year in my 30s.  The day started off wonderful (assuming I turn a blind eye to Rachel waking me up at 2:30 and again at 5 am, at which point I laid on the floor in front of her door for 90 minutes like a mutt so she would go back to sleep). But when I REALLY woke up, my dear husband organized the kids and a few wonderful gifts for me.  The first was from Elise.  She gave me an envelope and explicitly wrote on the outside ‘Dad did not help me’.  Inside the envelope was a sweet note – the comment that melted my heart was “You know me”.  Then in another piece of paper, she had wrapped a $5 bill.  I previously thought money was an impersonal gift, but this was such a considerate gift for her to give me – she treasures her dollars!  On the piece of paper surrounding the bill, again she wrote ‘From only me, Not dad, Not S, Not R’.  I love this girl. 

Next I opened roller skates.  My previous pair became obsolete when my feet grew a size in pregnancy #1.  They are pretty and white with purple wheels and I look at them and feel a breeze in my hair and years younger.

But finally comes the gift that I won’t EVER forget.  2 bras.  I had complained recently to my husband about how expensive they are and I hated to spend discretionary funds on something so boring.  Thus – the 2 bright and crazy bras awaiting me on my birthday.  I love the thought behind the gift.  But even more, I love the thought of my husband standing in Kohls picking out these bras…shuffling through the racks to find the right size.  Checking out.  Then comes the real mystery.  I tried them both on and they fit PERFECTLY.  Tell me how that happens.  I couldn’t have bought 2 better fitting bras if I had tried them on in the store.  So today I wore one of those bras, and have giggled about it all day.  

With a renewed energy and an awesome bra, I packed up the twins in their stroller and strapped up my new roller skates, and we made our way through the neighborhood at a snails pace (with the stroller weight, I was pushing over 100 pounds!  I didn’t feel much breeze in my hair, but it did start to rain a little so that made me feel alive!).  Today I officially created this blog so that I will remember.  After three years in a fog,  I am finally ready to remember.