MamaBlogga

Okay, so maybe Hayden doesn’t have everything, but the kid’s got it pretty good. He’s got dozens of toys and only his parent to share them with—and a birthday coming up.

What do you get a little boy that doesn’t really need more toys for his birthday? (Great toy suggestions are, of course, welcome, too.)

I had a couple ideas:

• Outdoor furniture. (No, really—I saw this cute plastic Adirondack table and chairs set at the store and thought that would be fun for Hayden in the summer. Not now with our six+ inches of snow, though.)
• Books. (When shopping for friends, you may want to get suggestions for their library, just so you don’t get them something they already have.)
• Art supplies/crafts. (Even Hayden loves to color. Especially nice—something they can do together as a family.)

What else will make a kid’s life complete?

My birthday ended better than it started, which is pretty good, considering how grumpy I was yesterday morning. Not only did Ryan surprise me by coming home from work at 9:30 (his work day starts at 7) and baking me a cake and straightening up the house, but he stayed home the whole day (hurray!).

I’m afraid I didn’t use our time very well . But it was really nice to have an extra, extra long weekend and to have him home with me. Hayden wasn’t as grumpy as I’d feared, either.

Ryan got me a very sweet card and a pair of books with parenting coping strategies (which I know I need; I was very happy to get them!).

I sent him out to get rainbow chip frosting for my cake. A few minutes after I left, my sister arrived at my door. She came in and we talked for a minute before she said, “Well, go get ready.”

“For what?”

“Ryan’s taking you out to dinner. Surprise!”

Indeed. I felt like eating at Happy Sumo, so we did. I was sorely tempted to get what I did last time we were there (Fuji Chicken), but I ended up getting something different.

Before we left, we realized that the last time we were there was nearly a year ago—my belated birthday celebration. Should we make it a tradition?