Taking Themes to the Extreme

I’ve been thinking about birthday parties lately.  I love a good party.  My kids love a good party.  But you know who doesn’t love throwing a good party?  My sanity. 

I am just not willing to deal with the kind of pressure that is “children’s birthday parties in these, the latter days”.  (Okay, there have been a few times I thought about it, but my brilliant husband reminded me of my inner stance against “The Man”) I sometimes feel like the following are prerequisites for birthday parties today:

1.)   Theme

2.)   Themed decorations

3.)   2-3 Themed activities

4.)   Themed cake

5.)   Themed ice cream

6.)   Themed gifts

7.)   Themed party favors

8.)   Themed take home craft

What the?  What happened to: invite people over you see at church, play outside, then have cake and ice cream?  Where did the simplicity go?  I blame Pinterest.  I had one birthday party growing up.  ONE!  We had non-themed cake and non-themed ice cream and then skated at the skate rink in our non-themed 90's whitewashed jeans.  My mom was one smart woman only allowing one birthday party.  Think of all the stress she avoided.  Plus, by not over doing it on birthday parties she helped keep me level-headed and grateful for what I did get instead of guiding me on a path of greedy expectations.  (Which, of course, doesn’t apply to all children, but probably would have been the case for me.)  I’m glad to know that their energy was spent with me at my favorite restaurant (KFC baby!) instead of planning a NKOTB party with Joey bobble head party favors.  

That being said, we still love invites to birthday parties, even if they are themed.  Because after all, nothing says friendship more than the themed “bring you kid over to my house for a couple hours so I can entertain them while you go to the grocery store all by yourself" party.   

Betrayal

I consider myself a fiercely loyal person (as so do all the personality tests I've taken since I was fourteen). That is why when I bought a new car this weekend, I nearly cried.

It is a very nice car. It has everything we were looking for. We spent over a year shopping for it because we, and by "we" I mean my husband, are OCD about getting a good deal.

I try to comfort myself with the memories of my old car. It was the car I got in high school and loved loved loved loved loved. It represented freedom, trust, and leaving the house whenever I wanted (back when going to the grocery store was fun). I realize that now it's time to pass the car on to my younger sister and I wish her all the same feelings joy and attachment I have felt.

But I still can't swallow the feelings of betrayal every time (it's been one day now) I drive by my old car, sadly parked on the side of the road because there is no room in the garage for it. The old car isn't yelling accusations, it's too good for that.

But the new car practically gloats (see actual image below). And that's what hurts the worst.

When Personal Training Gets Too Personal

Don't the people in this picture look happy working out? Don't they look like this is the best part of their day? This is most likely because her trainer is not her husband.

I love my husband. We have a ton of fun together and we have so many things in common. However, I think every couple has some things that are better, left out of marriage. We have a few things. Once, the hubs took me Salsa dancing for my birthday. The night ended with him not speaking to me and me crying the whole way home. Another thing we can't do together? Play board games, one-on-one. It gets WAY too competitive. In a group, we love it!

I had a baby a little over a year ago. I have been trying to get rid of the baby weight for a while. My exercise consists of running. I run to lose weight. I run to have a few minutes to myself each day. I run so that I can eat butter without worrying about heart disease.

After baby #1, running worked great to lose weight. After baby #2, not so much. So like any woman, I whine about my weight and my flabby arms. My husband kindly said, "Your way doesn't really seem to be working. How about you try it my way?" Nice, huh? So, I reluctantly agreed. We have been going to the gym together. He plans my work-outs (which consists of a lot of weight lifting). He even keeps track of everything on a spreadsheet. I have to give him credit for his organization. However, like any husband, sometimes he says the wrong thing.

Example #1.

"Babe, I don't think you can call it baby weight after a year. I'm pretty sure it's just fat now."

Example #2.

Husband - "Why don't you go do the StairMaster for a few minutes. It will make you have a great butt."
Me - "Don't I already have a great butt?"
Husband - "Yeah, but it could be tighter."

Example #3

Me - "I think all of this weight lifting is giving me those huge, scary, strong-girl muscles."
Husband - "Well, once you lose the layer of fat on top, your muscles won't look so big."

I am starting to think that a personal trainer might work better for me. I think I am just a little too sensitive to hear criticism from my husband. Even if it is well intended (and stupidly put).

What have you had to cut out of your marriage to keep the peace?