For the birthday girl who wants nothing

 

Miss Crafty at 18 months and The Inventor at 10 days old

The Inventor’s birthday is coming up in a few days. Both my girls’ birthdays are memorable in their own ways. Miss Crafty is memorable because she made me a mom. I learned on her.

The Inventor’s is memorable for all the wrong reasons. I had a difficult pregnancy and was on lifting restrictions and modified bed rest from 3 months on. It wasn’t one of the most dramatic pregnancies, but after birth we learned of a lot of potential complications that scared me to death. The Inventor is alive only because God protected her while she was growing inside me. One wrong slip or move and she would have died before ever taking her first breath.

She was born about 3 1/2 weeks early. She came with her own set of unique challenges that first year. She was barely healthy enough to stay out of the NICU, however that didn’t mean she was ready to thrive. Born without hunger or sucking reflexes and the inability to maintain her own body temperature made her a needy baby. She was happy to sleep 24 hours a day–literally. I had to set alarms to know when to feed her, by dropper for the first week until she learned how to suck.

There were other issues too, but long story short–she is my little miracle.

And perhaps that is why her birthday is a little extra special each year. I know how close we came to never having her as a part of our family. Emotionally I celebrate big, and count my blessings.

 

[Tweet “So what do I get for a 9 year old who is #content for her #birthday?”]

 

Stumped this year, I asked The Inventor. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Inventor, what do you want for your birthday this year?

TI: I don’t know.

Would you like a cool Lego kit?

Meh. That would be alright.

How about a book?

Eh, I don’t know.

What about a new hat?

I like this one.

Are there any new games you want for the computer or XBox?

That would be just okay.

Well, what do you want?

I have everything I need mom. I don’t want anything….

 

How do you convince someone so selfless and content to desire material possessions?

I don’t. So I switched topics on to her birthday dinner.

What would you like to eat for your birthday?

Hot dogs. But the good ones. (meaning the $2 pack of smoked sausages instead of the cheap 75 cent package).

And?

Can I pick out my own bag of chips?

Anything else?

Ice cream. Can I have a treat and get some candy for the top? Oh, and a cherry. Can I have one of those red cherries for my ice cream that come in a jar?

 

That settled it. For the girl who wants nothing she is getting good hot dogs, chips, and ice cream with candy and a cherry on top.

And because she deserves to be spoiled and have something that she doesn’t need–an MP3 player so she can listen to her own music and isn’t subjected to her sister’s all of the time.

 

My goal in life is to live in contentment and to be thankful for what I have. Sometimes it is a struggle, and here I have this little 9 year old standing in front of me living contentment out loud.

A child who gives all her birthday and Christmas money away to church missions.

A child who goes through her stuff often and looks for things to give to others.

A child who happily goes without so she can see others have more.

A child who looks at material possessions and wonders, “why would someone ever need that”

A child who wants nothing for her birthday, and her idea of being spoiled is a $2 pack of hot dogs.

A child who lives only in need and never in want.

 

All I can do is stand back and smile…and strive to be a little more like her.

 

~Crystal

 

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