Happiness is... cherishing a simple birthday month

Once upon a time, I used to party and celebrate so as to celebrate April, my birthday month.

My besties and I would go clubbing, my other close friends would meet up for meals, my colleagues would celebrate for me in office and of course, my family never forgets my special day. There was a year when I got to blow out candles on seven cakes and I thought, wow, I must be so blessed, privileged and loved.

Then some friends started to drift apart as we each moved on with our lives and had our own families. Once we stepped into motherhood, we hit the busy button which is remained switched on nearly 24 hours a day.

So it became such that only the very close friends would still meet up to celebrate birthdays while the rest just remained connected on social media and would drop a birthday wish. Is that how the case is for you too?

While I am still largely an extrovert, I've come to appreciate cosy, intimate celebrations with just the family and a couple small group of friends whom I hold dear. Yup, no more big parties in chalets, yachts and clubs where dozens of people would gather to sing the birthday song for me. I am past that phase and that age already. How about you?

In this post of "Happiness is...", it's about having a simple birthday month but loving every bit of it.

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Do I still love celebrating birthdays? Yes, of course I do, it's just that I don't wanna make a big fuss out of it. I tend to focus more on planning parties for the kids more rather than myself and it's not because I don't love myself, but just cos' it's nicer to spread joy and make people happy and party planning is something I enjoy.

Good food is also something we enjoy too and this month, we indulge a little more and had meals at Ajumma's and Ding Tai Feng. The former was mainly for the girls who love the army stew here and the latter was a one-on-one date with Ansel who loves xiao long baos. 

Nonetheless, dining out is expensive and is a luxury we do not take for granted. I still make sure that we get home cooked food a few times every week and this month, the kids stepped in to help and I love it when we serve our fruits of labour onto the dining table and everyone tucks into a hearty meal made with love.

Say Hi to Dale! Our hamster is so fluffy and cute and we love taking him out to pat him and let him sleep in our palms. The kids keep wishing for a dog or cat, but well, I don't think I can handle that along with four kids, a messy home, no helper and a hubby who is frequently away. I love dogs though, but well, maybe in a decade when I'm feeling lonely and less busy?

On weekends, we go out for family time with the navy hubby and having a delightful hotpot is something we all enjoy. Weekends are so precious and fleeting but that's just how life is, right? The good things never last long.

On the day I turned 42, the girls and I went on a mother-and-daughters date when I brought them for their first ever spinning class. Yup, how fun and memorable to be working out together on my special day and I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend the morning. Oh, it happened to be home based learning day for both of them. How lucky that it happened to be my birthday, woohoo!

I've said these many times before, birthday cards are the best gifts to me and I don't need things like makeup, flowers, bags or jewellery. But a handemade card drawn and written with love, that speaks volumes and is a precious treasure to me.

I still love to do crazy things with the kids like going for a late night scoot/run session. We did this past 9am, went to explore and play at playgrounds not that near our home, then went for McDonalds supper and reached home past midnight. It's the kind of fun and fond memories that will stay in their hearts as they grow up, right?

I sure hope so.

I'm not sure when we will outgrow playgrounds but since we still have a 4-year-old and like many more years to come, I'm gonna cherish every one of our playground outings before all the kids move on to their own entertainment like phones and ipads.

Having a little one that spends over 20 hours a day with me also reminds me to be thankful for the little things in my life. Like how he gives a big smile when holding his own umbrella, how he gets amazed by a gigantic leaf in his path, how he is happy to pretend play in a stationary car, that just brings joy to me too and makes me wanna cherish more of the little nuggets of joy around me.

While the girls get busy with secondary school and often have to stay back for CCAs, the boys still have their afternoons free which means we get to go on mother-and-sons dates too.

This month, we dressed up in pink to visit the Museum of Ice Cream and had a good time playing, eating different flavours of ice cream, and doing art and craft too. It's always awesome to visit a new place and I hope we can do this a little longer before these two get busy with life too.

As you know, I've been trying to make fitness a part of life and I want my kids to be healthy and sporty too. We went to the Skechers warehouse sale to get ourselves new pairs of shoes because these are essential for exercise and we've been wearing their shoes for years and years. Can't wait to have more family workout sessions!

April also happens to be our wedding anniversary and this year, we made it special by having a family art jamming session at Paintblush. We did paintings that could glow in the dark and these were so fun to make. Our final, one-of-a-kind artwork are now proudly in display in our living room and I love them lots.

We also had a mum-and-kids karaoke session on my birthday as the hubby was away so the kids accompanied me to do something that we all enjoy doing - SING! And we dabao-ed Mcdonalds for dinner too and that just makes it a very awesome way to have my birthday meal. So yes, that marks the end of a simple but fun-filled birthday month for me. Read about my thoughts on turning 42 here.

At this mid-point of my life, I just wanna focus on raising the kids, pursuing my hobbies, staying fit and cherishing each day of my life with my loved ones.

Till the next post of "Happiness is..." where I share random thoughts on what brings me joy and bring you updates on our family life. Bubbye!