getting excited is a family trait

We attempted to throw my aunt a surprise 60th birthday party this year. Unfortunately we were 11 and a half months late. It was still fun, and she was very honoured. My mom was very excited to get away with a surprise. I had to postpone publishing this just in case my dad's internet savvy siblings caught wind of it, I think 2 months late ought to do it.

I think it is great to get to pull off a surprise, I've tried, I'm not a good liar. I end up like that woman on SNL that cannot keep a secret and I would rather jump through a window than have to hold all the excitement inside. It's best to not tell me if it's s surprise.

I am surprised up to this point that my mom has actually kept it in. We have received hourly emails updating us on every minute detail. Her excitement is something that I have inherited, and that my niece has inherited.

My niece, where to begin... she is a little dangerous when it comes to secrets. She can't help but tell, and if she doesn't have one, she may just make one up to tell you. She is the product of some of the best lines that I have heard. Her best so far was when her and her brother got in trouble at day care, and this little girl was 3 going on 15. Her dad leaned over to her and asked, "Did you have a bad day because your brother was having a bad day too?"

She replied, toe twirling on the ground, "It must have been a coincidence." At three.

I deny it when people say that she reminds them of me. I'm sure there are similarities, but for now I like to think I was an angel growing up. She may have a bigger vocabulary than I did at that age, she'll make a promising story teller. She loves to talk, whether or not you are listening, she will be talking. But if there is a secret in the room she gets all giddy and quiet, it's like the fuse from a firework has been lit, you can hear her insides rattling with excitement. She definitely gets this trait from my mom. She hunches over and her eyes go wide, it's like she has laid on top of a bomb and it may explode at any moment.

My husband likes to surprise me, and I appreciate that, we were over babysitting my niece shortly before my birthday. She had asked my husband what he got for me, he looked at me with the question in his eyes of 'should I'? I replied back with my eyes a vehement 'no'. I like surprises and we all know what little kids like to do with surprises. They like to tell them.

My brother had recently received a fishing pole for his birthday, so I whispered to my husband to tell her that he got me a fishing pole. She asked again if he would tell her the secret so he leaned over and whispered in her ear.

She promptly got up from her spot at the table and waltzed over to the new fishing pole that my brother had put in the corner and sort of walk/danced it in front of me, she even hummed a tune while doing so. My husband started to laugh right away, and I scolded her. She was all, "What? I didn't tell you anything." I explained to her that subtlety was not her strong suit because in less than 3 seconds she had given the secret away.

I say all of this to let you know that I would be just like my niece if my aunt lived with me. I would have been pulling out the candles, doing a moon walk with a card in my hand, you know, playing with fire before the fun of the surprise. And I know that my mom's sole form of containment was in the ability to get all excited about it over email. And it went off without a hitch, just a few months late.

That's all.

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