My Life
My baby is eight today…
Mae shares her birthday with: Author Maya Angelou who turns 80 today and is partying with Oprah Winfrey. Maya Angelou was a single mother at age 17.
What I’m baking at this very moment to wake Mae up with, singing: blueberry muffins.
What she read last night: Ivy and Bean.
A poem that Mae wrote for me recently: “You are a warm cup of coffee just made, you are a burrito with a lot of hot sauce.”
How I know that she is developing just right: Because I borrowed Your Eight-Year-Old: Lively and Outgoing from another mom, and author Louise Bates Ames, Ph.D, says that your eight-year-old “cannot get enough of her mother’s attention.”
The greatest irony of the day: Mae’s birthday wish today is to go and see the just-released (April 4!) movie Nim’s Island in which her fav actress Abigal Breslin “is left to fend for herself after her scientist father’s boat leaves him stranded far away.”
Please tell me: Do you also get emotional on your child’s birthday, too? Maybe it’s because I’m a Cancer. Jeesh, someone pass the tissues– Happy Birthday to my Sweet Mae Mae! I love you!
Photo: Mae at age 2, just after we made the big, cross-country move from New York City to California so we could be closer to my family
Related posts:
- My baby is graduating!… My sweet Mae, This week, you're graduating from second grade,...
- Help. The ex-boyfriend wants to come to my kid’s birthday party… It all started last week, when we were passing through...
- What my dad says this morning, by email "I would love to get Mae a bike for her...
Tags: birthday, Children, daughter, eight years old, growing up, holidays, Ivy and Bean, Louise Bates Ames, Maya Angelou, mother and daughter, Mother-Daughter, Nim's Island, Oprah Winfrey, single mom, Single Moms, single parent, Support Discussion
15 comments for “My baby is eight today…”
Post a comment
Yes, that is me on the cover, in front of my editor's sofa, in a precarious pose... You can get your own copy here:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
I was due on April Fool’s Day and my daughter was born in January. So my joke is that she fooled everyone!
But yes, I do get emotional on her birthday because I’m still in awe of her. Sometimes I still can’t believe that I’m a mother, and much like your feelings about Mae, I’m very proud of the bright, articulate, resilient, beautiful young lady that she’s turned/turning into. Children are a blessing, and we’ve truly been blessed!
So glad I found you. You sound like my kind of mom. My 8 year old and I have such an amazing relationship which I’m so happy for every day. I love finding other moms like me.
For some reason my oldest daughter’s 9th bday was extremely emotional. I remember; I thought oh my gosh she is half way to 18. Which in my head meant she was halfway out of the house. I cried all day. She is 11 now and I feel like I am counting down. The tears come at every birthday. I guess I sometimes think what the heck am I going to do when my 2 daughters leave the house. I had my first daughter at 17 so I went from being a kid to having a kid. I have no clue what it will be like to be an adult without children.
Only 9 more months until her 12th bday…whatever will I do
Happy birthday to Mae!
My baby is turning 12 on Tuesday and I can hardly believe it. They say it goes quickly, and they are not kidding. SIGH.
Yes…I got a lump in my throat just reading that. After having Benjamin I realized that birthdays are for parents … until the kid realizes it’s their birthday. Than it’s a shared day of joy.
I am a weepy mess on Benjamin’s birthdays. Thank god we don’t have another one for about a year. I don’t want him to grow up too quickly!
What a cute picture! Tks for sharing!
I LOVE that picture of Mae!! Beautiful!
I definitely get weepy on my boys’ birthdays…the one day a year I am forced to recognize that they are growing and I can’t stop it.
Maya Angelou (who, btw, was a professor where I went to college) is a wonderful person to share a birthday with! Maybe next year y’all can all party with Oprah!!
Happy Birthday, Mae!!
Hey, my son’s birthday is today, too! He turned nine, and we - I’m not kidding! - had blueberry muffins this morning. I definitely still gush over their birthdays. And each year, I find myself saying, “I can’t be the mom of a (insert year) 9-year-old!” But I am. Could it be that they’re getting older and we’re not? Happy birthday to Mae - and to you. It’s just as special for us moms as it is for them.
Rachel,
You are an inspiration. It was great to briefly speak with you about “balancing it all” after your Commonwealth Club panel the other night. After hearing your hilarious stories on the panel, I am excited to read your book! I’m not even a mom, but something tells me I’ll relate to much of your writing.
Katie Burke
Hope you all had a wonderful birthday!! My girl will be 15 this year and I feel exactly the same way. I have a little panicky feeling about her growing up and going to college, and it’s right around hte corner. It all seems to be going by so fast. We are as close as we’ve always been and I still like spending most of my time with her. I find that amazing as I never would have spent that much time with my parents. I think that is the special bond for single parents!
I hope you two had a great day!
Anna will be 2 weeks old on Wednesday. I can’t even imagine what it’ll be like to have an 8 year old! I’m already starting to feel like she’s growing up way too fast.
Thank you mamas! I’m so honored to know all of you.
Lauren, here’s to that two-week birthday! Celebrate for yourself, okay?
Jennifer: I’m a huge fan of yours! I’m honored that our Aries’ firecrackers share the same day.
The Rice Krispie treats at school went off without a hitch, followed by the premiere of Nim’s Island (my single mom friend and I cried at the end, our daughters laughed at us!).
Thank you, thank you…
Aw she’s such a beautiful girl
Mine will be 8 later this year and just the thought of *that* makes me weepy I don’t even need the day. I think I measure so much of my life by his age, where I thought I’d be at this time. We all know that doesn’t work!
My son’s birthday is in 5 weeks — on Mother’s day — and I’m already getting emotional lol
It just doesn’t feel like it’s been almost a year yet.. I can’t even imagine how I’ll feel at 8!
I just want him to stay my itty bitty little baby
It’s just amazing how fast time flies by..
[...] I’m assuming that the “Big Girl” he refers to is Mae, but her birthday was way back in April. [...]
[...] Thanks to all of you for the birthday wishes! [...]