It's Birthday Season!

Our family is presently smack dab in the middle of what I call "Birthday Season."

Most families celebrate a few birthdays scattered throughout the year, but our big family has all its birthdays concentrated in 6 consecutive months.

Brandon kicks the season off (right after we celebrate our nation's birthday) in July (he's 20 now!); Quinn turned 6 in August (I had a birthday in August too, but I can never remember my age, so I just won't put it here :). Analisa is next, she turned 9 in September. Then Luke and Drake, on October 5 and 6 (yep, two separate kids, two separate birthdays, 2 separate cakes). So Luke is now 3, and Drake is 11. A few days after Halloween, while we're all still gorging ourselves on Halloween candy, on November 3, Victoria will be 18. Then in December is Jack. And, the grand finale....Jesus.

Whew! That's a LOT of presents, and a LOT of cake!

This was the year that Analisa got to celebrate her "school birthday" which means she got to have a birthday party with her friends from school.

My kids think I'm mean because all their friends seem to have big parties every year, where they invite the entire class to celebrate. But in my opinion, that's just too much. And honestly, it gets tiring to me (I know, I know, this can be a very controversial subject!) to buy birthday presents year after year for my kids' classmates (note: I didn't say my kids' "friends"). And in turn, I just think it's too much to expect my kids' classmates to buy birthday presents for my children every year. That's why mine only get one big bash...when they turn 9 in 3rd grade.

And after surveying the haul that Analisa brought home from her big party this year, I'm only more convinced that one party is enough. (I may be borrowing cash from her to fund my Christmas shopping this year!)

The other sticking point I have about birthday parties is the tradition of "goodie bags" given to the guests at the end of the party. After paying to rent a swimming pool and private party room, and feeding all the kids cake and ice cream, I just think the expense of "goodie bags" (filled with cheap toys that will most likely be broken within a matter of days, or candy that will cause "sharing" fights between siblings ) is extreme. So I just don't do them. I wish other parents would forego this unnecessary expense. In fact, I'd like to start a "no goodie bag" revolution!

Anyway, this post is a bit off topic, but it was on my mind.

Now, I've eaten a lot of cake lately. Time to go work out.