Happy Birthday?

I thought it had been a really nice day. Isaac brought Elizabeth flowers and served her choice of breakfasts on a special plate: milk in a goblet, banana, grapes, watermelon, bacon, and scrambled eggs with tomato, cheese, and ham. We gave Elizabeth three new chapter books as a present.

At school, Elizabeth got to decorate a birthday crown and everyone sang to her. I picked her up after school (per her request) and gave her a choice of ways to spend the afternoon. She chose to go to a park with a friend, so we picked up her friend and enjoyed a snack at the park.

After dinner, I served Scotcheroos with chocolate frosting and a candle. I let Elizabeth and her friend play some more, then put Amelie into the stroller to walk her friend home.

As we went out the door, we noticed it had begun to rain. This is where things started to go badly. The girls desperately wanted to walk home (6 blocks each way) in the rain, and were terribly disappointed when I insisted on driving instead.

When we arrived at the friend's house, her mother had taken her siblings to the park, so I offered to drive the friend there to meet her mother. At the park - even though it was Amelie's bedtime - I took her out of the car and let the girls continue to play together. After 10 minutes, I gave a warning and then announced it was time to go. Here the problems started in earnest. Elizabeth blatantly ignored me, and when I finally got her into the car, complained and fussed the whole way home: "It's not fair that I, the birthday girl, have to leave when they don't."

At home, I tried to ignore her rumblings and put Amelie to bed. When I came back out, Elizabeth earnestly declared, "Mommy, truly it is you who ruined my sixth birthday! And I will never have another sixth birthday, so I can never make it up. Truly it is you!"

So. Happy birthday, dear. I love you too.