Priorities

Saturday was my birthday and we had the whole weekend planned with fun stuff to do. I love birthdays. I love to make a big deal of people's birthdays and I love to celebrate my own. We had planned that when TBone got home from work at 2pm Saturday, there would be a quick turn around and we would head off for afternoon tea at Koko Black (I know, a cafe devoted entirely to chocolate - could you get any better!!!) then shopping for my presents, followed by a quiet dinner at home with candles and an expensive bottle of red we have been saving for a special occasion.

But....

Poor TBone came home at 7am Saturday with a stomach bug and spent the rest of the day in the bathroom. Seems he caught Master Z's bug of the week from day care.

Now, I am usually very laid back and caring - I am a health professional you know :o) - but for some reason, all care and compassion left me and all I could think was that my birthday had been ruined! I was close to tears even though I knew perfectly well that there was nothing he could do about it. The poor thing was feeling terrible not only for the lurgy, but as he felt he had ruined my birthday. 

I spent the morning huffing and puffing, playing with Master Z and feeling very sorry for myself. What a waste, as it was a beautiful day in Perth. Once Master Z went down for his midday nap, I thought, right, going to go and buy my own presents. First, I decided to get my finger and toe nails done, so headed to a local salon. I asked for the special pedicure and manicure and got shuttled to one of the booths. The guy started sanding my nails and then clipping them back - that was then I started to pay attention to what was going on. He then pulled out acrylics and I pretty much melted into a blubbering heap. My fingernails had been cut right down. "I don't want acrylics, I only wanted a manicure, its my birthday and everything is going wrong!" 

The poor people in the salon didn't quite know what to do with this stranger with tears running down her face and mascara following them. They were very lovely to me, fixed my now very short nails up with a manicure, dealt with my elephant like feet and toenails with a pedicure, not even commenting on the fact that my legs were hairy like a bear.

As I was relaxing I decided I needed to grow up, act my age and make the most of the day. I can be very Pollyanna when I need to be. So I went home, picked up Master Z and went to have the day we had planned, unfortunately without TBone though. I had a lovely afternoon being escorted around Claremont by Master Z and TBone was well enough to have a low key version of the dinner we planned - but we have saved the wine for another time.

The next day really put things into perspective for me. TBone was well, the weather was fantastic, despite predictions otherwise and we headed to one of my favourite places in Perth, the zoo. Master Z had the best day, his smile was beaming the whole time and he chattered away throughout the day. He was so excited to see the lions, tigers, elephants and the meerkats up close and spent the afternoon imitating the monkeys. I had the such a lovely time just watching him happy. We let him spend most of the time out of the pram, wandering around the zoo at his pace.

That's when I realised that what happened Saturday didn't matter and I am embarrassed at my tired and fatigued reaction. The day we had Sunday, a simple activity, the three of us together enjoying each others' company, Master Z soaking up new experiences, that is what deserves to be celebrated. And that is how I will remember my birthday for this year.