Please (Don’t) Give Me a Break

Posted on by Wynne Leon

By the end of my birthday this past weekend, I was exhausted.

I know I’m not alone in this. When I hand the reins over to others, let’s call them the less experienced members of the household, so that they can give me a “break,” it almost breaks me. This used to happen with my ex-husband too so I know it’s not just with children.

It started the morning of my birthday. We’d already had the birthday party, so it was just me and my kids having a low-key day. Miss O, at almost nine-years-old, wanted to be in charge of making me breakfast. I could have anything I wanted… as long as it was pancakes.

But the reality hit when she arrived in the kitchen and was hungry, “Can you make me breakfast so that I can make you breakfast?” she asked. “Of course,” I replied.

And she did make me breakfast. But since it was a special day, she wanted to make the “ultimate” pancake recipe on the box. Ultimately, that took a lot of input from me. And cleanup. But they were delicious.

Since it was my birthday, four-year-old Mr. D wanted to play some front hall broom hockey with me. He also had a little camera and stopped me in whatever I was doing, usually cleaning up, to take my picture.

Is this what it feels like to be famous?

Then dinner rolled around and Miss O wanted to continue to help. I suggested she make a sheet of her favorite yellow cake. She agreed and added, “And I’m doing the dishes.”

God help me, I groaned. Inwardly of course.

Mr. D wanted to continue to celebrate me by sitting on my lap as I ate. Then take me to play a little driveway pickleball.

Miss O interrupted the pickleball to say, “Mom, I love you but why do you do this to me?”

I asked, “What?”

She replied, “You only left me one dish to do?”

Right! 😊

At the end of the day, I thanked her for all she had done. It’s the first year that she’s given my birthday more than a passing nod. She smiled and said, “I love helping you, Mama. It’s not like I was just going to say, ‘Oh, it’s your birthday, Cool.’ And not do anything else.”

Okay, when put like that, I see it’s about growing a helping heart. And growth is worth it, even when it’s exhausting.

(featured photo from Pexels)

49 thoughts on “Please (Don’t) Give Me a Break”

  2. You are indeed growing two large helping hearts and it’s beautiful to see them take shape every day and through every update.

    Your birthday weekend sounded wonderful and getting breakfast made for me, even with a little help beforehand, sounds perfect!

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  4. “But the reality hit when she arrived in the kitchen and was hungry, “Can you make me breakfast so that I can make you breakfast?” she asked.”

    I’m going to laugh about that line for a long time… 🙂

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  6. Lol. Bask in it when you can. My children declared we are all to old to celebrate birthdays many years ago (the baby turns 30 this year) and so the catering has stopped. I’d still like someone to make me breakfast.

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    1. A friend just told me his adult daughter was visiting him over Father’s Day’s weekend, but before I had a chance to be awed, he shared that seeing him was a “side effect”, she had other business in town 🤣 Yes, relish every year, every birthday, every pancake, and every visit.

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  11. Miss O’s comments were priceless, and I love that you agreed to a little front hall broom hockey with Mr. D. We’ll know who to credit when you end up on Time Magazine’s 50 most famous people. Tiring, but I’m sure you enjoyed it all considering their kind hearts.

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  14. Oh I love this Wynne. Birthdays are definitely exhausting, though the thoughtful and loving sentiments from Miss O and Mr. D are oh so precious and only bodes well for the future.
    Thank goodness birthdays only come once a year, for many reasons. 😆
    Happy Birthday my friend. Looks like you had some fun celebrations. You now have 364 days to rest. 🤣

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