happy almost birthday

Surprise! I arranged and carried out a modest almost-birthday party for young ms. squarepeg a couple of days ago. She won't be 13 until August, but because of circumstances, she didn't have a party for her 12th at all, and August is a bad time for parties anyway, as people are away, and it's terribly hot. I'd been planning it for a week or two, and it WAS going to be a riding party for five of her friends until she went and broke her arm last Friday. How ironic is that.

But then the party became all about cheering her up, as she's been pretty sad at her plight. I got mr. s to agree to having the party at our house (apt.) which he's never agreed to before, being all obsessed about the place being "destroyed" by all the (5) kids running around. Don't get me started on that. He's really got his "jookim" (also, "shig'onot": i.e., stuff that makes him -- or makes him look -- crazy). But the sweetest thing was that he also agreed to get her the new cell phone she wanted, which she's been nagging about for months already. I knew this was a one-two combo that would knock her socks off, and combined with her crew showing up to surprise her, would HAVE to put a smile on her face.

It went off perfectly, with dad keeping her out of the house till all the girls had arrived, and I left work 3 hours early (making up the time now) to get home before 5. The in-laws also came, and I found out that my father-in-law's 75th birthday was the same day. (I've learned, over the years, that they don't like to make any fuss over birthdays, and no one mentioned it beforehand, but it's a shame I didn't realize.)

The phone -- which has a camera -- was a big hit. She cared about nothing else and spent the whole party figuring out how it worked, taking pictures and playing with it. When she went to bed that night, she said it was the most perfect day, and much better than a riding party, since she wanted her friends to come to her house. She kept calling out to me, "Mommy, I can't stop smiling."

And it just doesn't get any better than that.