I’m 37 but I was almost 38

Yesterday was my birthday and after a shit show of a week that involved my kids having meltdowns on the daily, extreme work pressure and my husbands workplace deciding to shut down, I was glad to have also made it to Friday.

Not one to shy away from my age, when they asked how many claps to give for my birthday (I work in childcare) I said 37 without missing a beat. You guys that’s a lot of claps. I didn’t feel old before the claps, but after, I had to make sure the children’s hands were okay. I nearly needed to apply 40 odd ice packs and fill out 40 odd incident reports. That was the highlight of my working day.

The lowlight of my working day was coming back from my lunch break with only minutes until the mothers arrived for the ‘Mother’s Day’ afternoon tea. It was a mad dash to make the room look as though 15 kids don’t play there all while said kids seemed hell bent on destroying our efforts. Someone obviously got very flustered as I found a bedding bag full of toys in the cupboard later, along with a kids shoes we had been frantically searching for.

If you don’t work in childcare it’s basically looking for shoes and drink bottles until you pass out from exhaustion. Just kidding there’s way too much paper work and challenging behaviours and making the activities so they can make the mess so you can clean it up. It’s a bit like juggling but with more tantrums.

The preparation paid off as the arvo tea was a big hit and the weather was beautiful. Still, I was relieved to get out on time at 6 pm and head for my sister’s house where she’d taken my kids because hubby was working.

When I got to my sister’s, herself, her 10 yr old, and my two brats jumped out from behind the door and screamed ‘Happy Birthday’ surprise party-style which really made my day.

My sister had gifts and Chinese food and chocolate cake. But during dinner she insisted so much I was 38 this year that I started to doubt it myself. So much so that we got Miss 10 to work it out on a calculator. Cliffhanger…I’m 37. I don’t mind getting older guys but please don’t start adding years.