It's Not Your Birthday!

Today is P's birthday. Short Stuff agreed to take some time out from watching Max & Ruby to help me bake a cake. And by "help," I mean, of course, "cause the whole process to take ten times longer than it otherwise would." But, it keeps her out of trouble and besides, we're creating memories, right? Her main jobs were: stirring batter and licking spoons. I had to explain to her that she cannot stir with a spoon she has licked.

It took several days to convince A that her father is, in fact, permitted to have a birthday. When I mentioned it a few days ago she wailed, "Nooooooo! It's not his birthday!" She knows that when it's your birthday, you get stuff. And, being the generous sort that she is, she doesn't want anyone else getting stuff. She insists that we're all mistaken and that it's her birthday. I pulled out a calendar and showed her when her birthday is, but she was skeptical.

I told her we were going to bake her dada a cake together. "Okay," she said, "But it's not his birthday."

Kids do get more generous when they get older, right? I sure hope so. If you ask my daughter to share her snack with you, she will pull off a piece so microscopic it cannot be seen with the naked eye. "Here you go!" she always says cheerfully. So you hold out your hand and she deposits the crumb (and calling it a crumb would be generous). Such a giving spirit. She can't even share TV shows. If she is watching Dora and you say, "Hey, I'm going to watch Dora, too!" she starts screaming and says that only she can watch Dora. It really does not occur to her that she doesn't lose anything by having another set of eyes directed at our television. All she knows is that it is hers. In fact, everything is hers. She doesn't want me hugging my husband, and when I protest and say that he's my husband and I can hug him if I want to, she yells at me and says, "No! He's my husband!" She has claimed the house and everything in it (but not, for some reason, the mortgage payment).



The cake. I know, don't quit my day job, right?

Comments

Anonymous said…
I must say that when my baby sister was around 3 or 4, we were celebrating my brother's birthday, mind you this was right after Christmas. First we were asking her who's birthday it was, and she said 'Baby Jesus' then we asked her again and she said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERYONE!" My brother, who I think was celebrating his 16th birthday said "IT'S NOT YOUR BIRTHDAY!" So from then own, the "It's not your birthday" has become a standard line at whoever's birthday it is haha.
January 22, 2008 at 1:55 PM
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