Making birthday memories

During rest time, my son is supposed to spend the first part lying quietly in bed, but may look at books or play with his stuffed animals. The goal is for him to fall asleep if he needs to, although lately that is more and more rare. After about 30 minutes I generally tell him that he may now play quietly with his toys in his room until the timer goes off. The timer is set for 60 minutes at the beginning of rest time. If he comes out of his room or needs attention, I add 5 minutes to the timer. Anyway, today during rest time I hear, well, let’s just say not quiet play. He is so excited because it is my birthday. When Daddy left for work, he asked our son to make sure Mommy had fun today. He is doing his best to. It’s just that a three year old’s idea of fun and mine are not always the same. I check on him to remind him that during rest time he is to be playing quietly. I have barely cracked the door, when I am greeted with, "Mommy, I’m playing a fun, fun game. Do you want to play?" I remind him about quiet playing and suggest that we play the "fun, fun game" after rest time. A few minutes later I hear, "Mommy, it’s okay to do that? Okay!" I wonder what he just asked about without waiting for a reply. There is one thing that is not in doubt. My birthday today will not be boring. It may not be the quiet day of laying on the couch and soaking in a good book that I would have planned, but you know what? I wouldn’t trade it for the world! A birthday card I received in the mail today from an older lady in our church said, "Hope your day is special, and you enjoy your family. They are very special. Birthdays are for making memories. Your children will help make those memories. They are so sweet, and they have a lovely mother." What a great reminder! What memories will I have if I lay on the sofa and read – the memories of a good story, the memories of rest – all good. But instead today I choose to embrace other memories which my children will help make – playing "fun, fun games" with my three-year old and holding my daughter’s hands as she tries yet one more time to find her balance on her tiny feet and move forward. I hear the marching band practicing down at the high school. Maybe we’ll go watch. Whatever we do, I am pretty sure that it will be fairly simple and a great memory as I see the light in my children’s eyes as they learn and explore.