I was not sorry to see this weekend come to a close. In fact, if it had ended 48 hours earlier, some of my immediate familial relationships might have one less scar and my blood pressure would have remained its normal fabulously low 100/56.

My patience was completely depleted by a combination of too many birthday celebrations and teenagers who don’t understand that my sole purpose in life is NOT to do their laundry.

I can handle one birthday party, but three in a four day span is just too much. Jack on Thursday, Caryn on Saturday and Susan on Sunday.

My stress level was compounded by the fact that I didn’t do any birthday shopping for the girls before Saturday afternoon. My procrastination was largely because I have absolutely no idea what to buy them. Their taste in clothes is completely different from mine and they have pretty much everything else that they could possibly need. So Saturday afternoon I raced through the mall… store to store… with Grace in tow hoping that she would be able to help me pick out gifts.

As I left the house to go shopping, I told Susan and Caryn to be sure and keep the laundry running. I had already done the first six loads that morning and we were down to the last four. I had sorted and labeled each pile with instructions for the proper cycle and water temperature.

Three hours later when I rushed in the door, tired and bedraggled from my whirlwind shopping spree, the girls were sitting at the kitchen table chatting over a cup of cappuccino. They looked adorable, dressed and ready for their birthday dinner out with perfectly curled/straightened hair and precisely applied makeup.

The same four laundry piles sat on the floor just as they had been when I’d headed out the door.

I was not happy.

The lecture didn’t seem to work because no one seemed concerned about helping with laundry on Sunday either.

I’m truly considering going on a laundry strike.

But the whole weekend was not terrible. We had some yummy birthday cakes.

Cheesecake for Jack on Thursday:

Carrot Cake for Caryn on Saturday:

Strawberry Shortcake for Susan on Sunday:

And we had a blast at Benihana with the whole family, including Rick’s dad and stepmom. A great place to celebrate a birthday with a group!

And best of all (for me anyway), the birthday parties are now over, and I get a reprieve until May when Rick’s and Grace’s birthdays are two days apart. Maybe by then, I’ll have found a good laundry fairy, so I can concentrate on important stuff like cake baking, gift shopping and reservation making.