Why I Am Impossible to Shop For

Larry gave up years ago trying to figure out what to buy me for birthdays/ Christmas/ etc.  We go for sushi for our anniversary.  We like to take trips and do things or buy experiences.  But he wisely gave up buying things.  As my 37th birthday passes me by, here is what I really want:

1. A chance to say good-bye to my mother-in-law Kathleen.  She was/is an unattainable model of motherly perfection.  She had infinite patience, deep wisdom, even composure, volumes of thoughtfulness, she always put her kids (both biological children and her students) first, and every word and action she ever made was deliberate and well thought-out.  I always felt like a sailor-mouthed, impulsive, unorganized mess next to her but it made me always want to do better.
   
2. Until my next birthday, I want my children to avoid making extra work for me.  For example, today, when I have the regular chores of laundry, 30 minutes of watering plants because the rain teases me but never falls, dinner to help make, kids to bathe, kids to put to bed, and the other million things that a mother does in the hours between 4 pm and 8 pm, it would be supremely helpful if Joseph did not find an unlocked cabinet containing a glass lighting globe and smash it to glass smithereens on the bathroom sink and floor.
   
3. Children who wake up after I have had time to wake up on my own, brush my teeth, and put in my contacts.  This means all I am asking for are children who sleep until a little after 6.  That is all it would take.  

See?  That isn't much, right?

A birthday from 29 years ago.
Of course my mom isn't in the picture: moms are always taking the pictures!