Fall has finally decided to descend on Georgia. Every year we anticipate the brisk, cold air and every year we are visited by an Indian summer. Humid, thick, close air that stays with us and forces us to use the AC just to stay comfortable in the house. Despite having lived in Georgia most of my life, I have never been able to really enjoy the summertime temperatures for longer than it takes to vacation at the beach and run the swim team. When those two activities are done, I am ready for fall and all that it promises. The movie You've Got Mail described it best: anticipating fall is like looking at a container full of newly sharpened pencils (or something to that effect) - it is full of promise, creativity and activity. I love that thought.
Of my seven children, four of them (the four middle ones) were born almost exactly two years apart - within two weeks of each other and all during the fall. We always joked that if I could make it through March without a positive pregnancy test, all was well. The end result of this really is that I am in "cupcake overload" from mid-October through the first week in November, with Halloween right smack in the middle. There are cupcakes/cookies to make for the school classes for lunch, there are cookies to make for the different swim groups, the softball team, and of course the required birthday cake on the actual day of her birthday! Heaven forbid we don't stretch out this celebration as long as possible! I am cupcaked out come November 6th.
Years ago we adopted a policy of the "friend birthday vs. the family birthday" just to cut down on the cost of parties and more importantly, try to reduce the "entitlement factor" that our kids tend to suffer from. The kids alternate every year and after the 10th year, we reduce it to the BIG years (13, 16, etc.) But despite our best efforts the celebrations continue into the school lunches, after swim practices and after the softball games. The result is that I have found I need to sit down with each birthday girl in turn, ask her what she wants to bring to her various activity, ask her what she wants to have on her actual day and get a head count from the coach/teacher so that I don't leave anybody out. For most people, this isn't such a big deal and if my kids' birthdays were just a little more spread out, it wouldn't be a big deal for me either. It is only because they are so back to back that it gets stressful at all. I have to wonder though, is it better to do it all at once and go through three weeks of constant baking, decorating and transporting of sweet treats or would it be better to spread it out so that 8 out of 12 months I am doing something (including the Huz in that count)? I'm still not sure about that. Because each month (almost) comes with its own set of priorities and activities anyway, maybe it is better to take a deep breath, put my head down and sprint for the end zone protecting the ball and hoping I don't get tackled! (how do you like THAT football reference? clever, huh? :)) But it really does feel like that sometimes. I can get through it as long as I keep my eye on the end result; I can score my own touchdown.
This coming week I will need to produce cupcakes for the 4th grade class, cookies for the Rookie Blue swim group, cookies for the Age Group swim group, cookies for the softball team and 2 birthday cakes. Then we will have Halloween and the neighborhood party, treats for my Stingers (the kids I coach). Directly after that, I will have cupcakes for the Kindergarten class, cookies for the Rookie White swim group, cupcakes for the 2nd grade class and 2 more birthday cakes! YIKES! Sometimes I like to break up the monotony and make Rice Crispy treats instead, or have a doughnut cake (stacked up doughnuts with candles stuck in them), but there is no escaping the sugar overload.
No wonder I feel like a hamster on a wheel! I recently questioned this in a blog to my dearest friends that literally get me through each day. We have a bible study that we are doing "online" this semester because everyone is so busy. Over the past 3-4 years we have always met at different houses to do our study, but with changing work schedules, demands from the kids as they get older, we decided to go techie this year with an online blog. We are studying David this semester and all that he went through being God's chosen leader. My (very wise) friend said something profound. "David has an amazing story..can you just imagine what it feels like to know you have been picked by God to lead a nation...well, we have been picked by God to lead a family....just as amazing!" As I make it through the next few weeks I will endeavor to remember that I have been hand-picked by God to lead this family and all that it entails. ...K
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Well, I'm exhausted after reading this and have taken to the sofa with the "vapors"! (How would those women have ever kept up?). Brings to mind my own baking days - ha! Remember when Jeff discovered a cookie started out hot? He came home from school just as I, who had decided to actually bake cookies one day (probably slice n bake) took a batch out of the oven and he mused in puzzlement "Wow, a hot cookie"! I think he was 12 or so!. In this case the apple has fallen far from the tree!. Love you, Mom
ReplyDeleteYou're amazing...that's why old women don't bear children! I get tired letting the grandkids have their way!! A tapestry I have says it all..."there is no higher calling in life than raising the children that God has entrusted to our care".
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