birthday Monday

Well you know what I had to do this morning: get the correct milk -- whole milk -- at the store and bake a cake. For Snowdrop's birthday. Oh, and decorate the place and get dinner ready for the young fam. I've been the birthday dinner person for all three Madison grandkids pretty much every year. They tell me what cake to bake, what food they'd like to eat and I'm on it.

This year, things are a little tricky. Sure, I live close by. But the apartment is small and between us, we have two large dogs, three kids and three grownups. (I told Ed to stay home. His size wouldn't help matters in a tight space.) And it's a school day, so I am back on after-school care for the big two. How does this all come together for Snowdrop, the now 11 year old in our midst?

I take one step at a time.

First, there is my Henry to walk, hug, feed, admire. Breakfast to eat.

Henry is always so happy to be going to doggie daycare. When he gets antsy inside on the weekend, I'm sure his woof and tug at my arm are his way of asking -- can I go out and play with my friends now?

 I think probably a half day there would be optimal, but the cost is nearly the same and the late afternoon is when I really need him to be there. (They're not keen on having your pup come in midday because the other dogs are ready for a rest then, while yours is charged and ready to play.) 

I drop him off and then I hustle. To the store, to get the correct milk and any number of items for the week ahead. Home, to tidy the place, to put up decorations (they have to include penguins), to take out the presents. To bake the cake already!

Snowdrop wants a chocolate cake with a layer of raspberry jam, frosted with whipped cream and decorated with candied violets. A very specific assignment! You know of course that you cannot bake the cake at noon and expect to frost it before 2 (that's the time I leave to pick up Sparrow at school). So I move things around a bit. Sparrow and I come back to the apartment after school, and I whip up the frosting then. Too, I get his help in pulling out the table. It's a two person job! 

 

(my helpful boy...) 

 

 

We are done just as the clock tells me it's time to get the birthday girl.

 

 

And still, there are complicated scheduling issues. Sparrow starts Taekwondo this evening. He would hate missing the first class of anything, but especially of an activity he doesn't know much about. The plan is for me to pick up Henry at daycare, drop off Sparrow with his mommy so that she can take him to class. Meanwhile, I should return to the Edge and cook dinner (the girl wants spaghetti with scallops in a tomato sauce). The rest of the family will come once both boys are picked up and, along with Goose, packed into the car for the short drive to the Edge.

To say that I'm a bit worried about how all this will play out is like saying that a coming tornado is causing me to feel unsettled. Henry is on good terms with the both young families by now, but how will he react to having them over on his own turf? And how will we all manage to squeeze ourselves into that small space that counts as a dining/living room? Will the dogs destroy the place? Isn't it time to bring out Henry's brown calming collar?

 

When will I stop taking such trivial issues seriously? Henry hears them coming down the hallway and he is all ready to bark, but then he spots Goose and all anxiety melts away from him, from me as well. The kids are boisterous but in the best way! And the dogs try to make sense of it all, although perhaps they've given up trying to understand human peculiarities. 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy birthday, you sweet child of the winter season! A Snowdrop indeed, with a generous heart and enthusiasm etched into her face. Happy happy birthday!

 

 

 

 (Facetime with cousins in Chicago)

 

 

The ten of us try for a timed release group photo and we sort of pull it off, though I think I've officially become a magnet for dog affections! My big guy with the brown collar is competing with Goose to see who gets the most licks in.

 

 

 It was, in fact, a very beautiful day. And Henry? He stayed by the door for a long time after they all left. There was that question mark: is it over? Can't we go with them? Are you sure?

How quickly children and dogs grow! Watching them leap from one stage to the next is exhilarating. And exhausting, even though really, you are just a bystander, watching, adding a little of this or that, but hanging back too. Grandparents need to be good at that!

I clean up the place with a smile. I have in my life such good dogs, such great humans too! 

with so much love...