36

So today was my first day being 36 years old. I think that puts me in a new age group category. You know, when you have to fill in a circle if you are between 25-35 or 36-42 or something like that? If I ever have another kid I will be considered "old" now...but no worries. My spouse thinks I am insane for even entertaining that thought. What is it about wanting more babies? As I sit on a park bench while my kids play, I can't help myself, I notice the nanny sitting next to me with a chubby little cherub on her lap. The soft skin, the eyes that look too big for their little heads, the arms that look like they are encircled with rubber bands. I flirt with babies, try to get them to wave or smile at me...We are such victims of our hormones, ya know? But, then they grow up to be a Four Year Old. Can you say birth control?
We just started reading the first Ramona book, and both kids really like it. Jonah likes to compare what he can do with Ramona can do. He sets up the comparison so that he can always win. Have you ever seen Tiger Woods interviewed after a golf tournament? His interviewer can say something like "You had three bogies in a row, you were barely on the leader board and what was with that terrible shot on Hole 16?" And Tiger will turn it around and say something like "Yes, but I pulled out some amazing recovery shots and I was pleased with my putting and I ended up winning the tournament..." If he didn't win the tournament, he will focus on how he recovered from a bad shot, but the bad shot is almost something that he didn't have any influence over--like it was just a problem that existed to be corrected. Jonah reminds me so much of that--he is very into winning. If he can't win, he will change the rules. Something like this: "Oh, Maya sorry, I won, it was actually who finished their dinner last that was the winner in this game." He also likes to be first coming up the stairs or going through the revolving doors or whatever. Sigh. Just interesting, that in pretty much every context, he views himself as a winner. Maybe we all start out this way and somehow it gets beaten out of us by the time we are 7. But it is so validating to Maya to read Ramona at age four. She will look at me over the book and wink and point to Jonah. When asked, Jonah claims to not do any of the things that Ramona does, and he is quick to point out the things he can do better than Ramona: "I can write my name and I would never ask to have the same book read 100 times. That is what little kids do, not kids like me." It is really funny. The kids and I have been reading a lot of books--we are nearly done with the first Harry Potter and are on the 2nd in Chronicles of Narnia. Also really enjoyed Because of Winn Dixie and The Tale of Despereaux and The Mouse and the Motorcycle. Sorry, rambling.
Back to my birthday.
We didn't do a whole lot. Brett ended up having to work late, so we postponed dinner out and I ended up taking the kids to see Shrek 3 in the theater so Brett could work from home. Also will be seeing Wicked, which is a gift I am most excited about. The kids have been choosing our gifts lately--like for Father's Day, Jonah picked out a Simpsons DVD (he is good at choosing gifts he likes too) and Maya chose a tie...and it means so much, they are so sweet.
So my actual birthday passed pretty uneventfully. Strange that I was out with a group of people at the playgroup that didn't know it was my birthday. But just like the Lawrence Women, I plan to stretch it out for a good week or two...Thanks for the tip, Robyn.