Beautiful Exhaustion after the Birthday Party

Eight hours of cooking, cleaning, decorating, all to be enjoyed and devoured in two hours time. Ground beef, roast chicken, beans, cheese, mushrooms, cilantro, onion, green chile, salsa, sour cream, enchiladas gooey and melty on 20 plates. Three-layer made-from scratch banana cake, caramel dripping down the sides. Laughter. Long conversations. Little girls shrieking and chasing. When all the guests had gone home, the mess (mostly) cleaned up, baths were given, and I tucked my new two-year-old into bed. I felt the exhaustion sink deep into the bone.

She gripped her new Curious George tightly, and in a sweet, small voice said, “I had a great day mommy.” Me too, honey, me too.