It is my birthday and I had a sniffly-ass nose and an eye infection. The photo above was taken on a day when I actually looked more human.

It wasn’t a great start but when I woke up this morning, Lauren shouted, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MUMMY!”, so that kinda makes up for my stuffy nose.

Also, I received a barrage of messages on Whatsapp and Facebook, so I felt ok for a moment. And then people started asking what’s my plan for the day and I didn’t even realise I needed a plan for my birthday, so I felt bad because it would be nice to say I’m going out for a romantic dinner with the husband and off dancing the night away. But in reality, I don’t have the energy and all I can think of is sleep.

I tried to be productive and made up a to-do list for the day. That seems to be what I excel at – making to-do list. But the list got a little too long to be realistically achievable. Two items done and I got distracted and read this thread. I bawled my eyes out and felt really appreciative to be alive.

The cry really did me in and I succumbed to an afternoon siesta amidst kids barging into the room and the sound of incoming messages. I vaguely remember that Lauren brought me a pillow. At one point, I even dreamt that I was awakened from the sleep and played referee to the fighting kids. Such is a mummy’s dream, in case you are wondering.

After two hours, I woke up to clearer nostrils and a nice message from the husband on Instagram.

Que: Awwww… so sweet!

Still, it feels like birthdays should have presents and so in celebration, I’d like each of you to do something wonderful for yourself. Maybe buy yourself those shoes you can’t stop thinking about or watch The Bachelor or pet all the dogs at the animal shelter or just lock yourself in a room and eat up your secret stash of chocolates.

For me, I made the kids sang Happy Birthday to me and had this conversation with Lauren:

L: How old are you, mummy?
M: I’m 37.
L: (Gasp!) That’s like very, very, very old!
M: Yes honey.
L: What about daddy? How old is he?
M: He’ll be 39 this year.
L: (Jaw dropped) That’s very, veeeeery veeeerrrrrry old!

My girl always has a way of making me feel better.

I do have a plan for the day. I will stay home and spend time with my family. We will have home-cooked soup, steamed fish and vegetables just like a regular day and maybe we will have cake. Oh shoot! The cake! Oh well, I hope Nick remembers to pick one up on his way home. Otherwise, no biggie. I’m happy to have this lot in my life and as a mum, there’s nothing else I wish for except for their health and happiness. And if I may be greedy, a bit more sleep would be nice.