Happy Birthday Ruby

Ruby turned five on Tuesday. Five years old ... which is old enough for her to now say, 'When I was a little girl ...' (I'm not kidding.) Both Joe and I think that the fifth birthday is a very big one - it's the birth of memory. We both remember back to our 5th year here on this planet, and we now know that Ruby will begin to store away bits and pieces of her life for future reference. I hope that the posts from this blog will be fun for her and for her sister when they get older.

Because we thought it was a big birthday, we shopped carefully, picking four very different presents. One from each of the 'four gift groups' of childhood. We wrapped them up, packaged them, and sent them along. We'd talked to her mom and dad who had a terrific day planned for her. They 'home decorated' a cake for her, exactly what she'd like. They planned to take her out of kindergarten at noon to a place where she could paint some pottery and have it put in a kiln and glazed. They organized family stuff with sister and grandparents. They had a special dinner. And, of course, she was sung 'Happy Birthday' several times.

So, at the end of the day, we got a call. Embarrassingly, she was up and we were in bed. Her dad told us all about her day and laughed at stories of what had happened and what she said. Then she came on the phone. And after all the planning, and shopping, and present opening, and singing, and painting, and glazing, and caking, and celebrating ... she came on the phone and said with a huge and excited voice ...

"Guess what!!! I POPPED A BALLOON WITH SCISSORS!!!!!'

I think there is a life lesson buried in there.