Siblings Can Make a Mess of Birthdays

Last weekend, my daughter celebrated her third birthday. Although my wife and I decided not to have a “kid” party, we did plan to have my side of the family over for her birthday party (we celebrated with my wife’s side of the family the week before). We spent the week before cleaning, running back and forth to the story for decorations, supplies, food and presents, and my wife (who thinks she belongs on Ace of Cakes) made a “Dora the Explorer” cake. Everything was set and ready to go and everyone was looking forward to the party, until about 6:30 Saturday morning. It was then that my youngest son started vomiting.

Needless to say, my wife and I were crushed. It is never fun dealing with a sick child, but when they get sick on their siblings birthday, well it is a disappointment for everyone. My wife and I waited to see if it was an isolated event, if it was something he had eaten, or just one of those things that happen to kids sometimes. It quickly became apparent that we were going to have to cancel the party, as my son continued to be sick throughout the morning and into the afternoon.

As I made the calls to my own brother and sisters, letting them know the party was off, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for my daughter. She had been looking forward to seeing her cousins all week. Although she is only three, she was excited about her party and she knew that she wasn’t going to have one because of her sick brother. She was disappointed.

Fortunately, it was just a twenty-four hour bug and my son was running at 100% the next day. We made the calls, told everyone the party was on for Sunday evening and hoped everyone could come. Ironically enough, one of her cousins was sick, and two others couldn’t attend. Although we had to delay the party and throw everything back together at the last minute, my daughter had a great time , was smothered by her cousins, and made out like a bandit in the present department.

Although her brother tried to ruin things, it ended up being a happy birthday.