Add to that the goal of finding the perfect gift and I am toast. If I see something a friend or family member would like, I get it for them; it doesn’t matter if their birthday is the next day or in eight months. And I am giving them that gift immediately, because if it’s put away for “safe keeping,” it is as good as lost (thank you peri-menopause brain).
Our son Nick struggles with the same thing, saying, “Mom, I don’t know what to get you for your birthday.”
My answer is always the same — and even more so now that I am…well, older.
“You do not need to get me anything; I have all I need and am not celebrating,” I say.
Yet, he still brings me a gift. Every time. And honestly, despite him saying he just picked something random and silly, I always end up liking it.
I have received a now well-used blanket adorned with Halloween skeletons wearing Santa hats, the cutest snowman — aka “Snowden” — that sits by the fireplace every winter (not just for Christmas) and an extra prickly cactus I call Caren.
Caren was the catalyst though for Nick’s latest challenge, “How many plants can I give my mom until one dies?” And I thought birthday planning was stressful…
Mind you, this is in addition to the already struggling plants we have acquired from a neighbor, a funeral, the Aldi Aisle of Shame and the freebies from the greenhouse at school. According to our eldest child, “The more kids that leave home, the more plants you seem to have.”
While a few plants are thriving and even reproducing, I’ve been forced to reluctantly relinquish several to my own dad — who actually does have a green thumb — for proper care. Caren is still hanging in there though, probably because she’s too mean to die.
Nick’s plant challenge was gradual with a small terrarium containing cacti and succulents next. They are thriving, even without a name.
He then stepped up his game with a Lucky Bamboo plant. This plant’s luck is running out despite my best efforts. Unlucky is now in his third location in the house hanging on for dear life.
But Nick must have some empathy for my lack of a green thumb, because soon after Unlucky’s arrival, he brought me another cactus just because, “Caren is mean and prickly.”
Cactus Jack is a soft, touchable cactus plant with googly eyes. Yep, actual googly eyes depicting him as “friendly.” Caren has been booted outside, and Jack now stares at everyone from the table top. He, too, is currently thriving.
Nick’s summer job is at a “big box” store that sells everything from lumber to washing machines to plants, hence my growing collection. And despite running short on indoor sunlight locations, he still sends me photos of plants he wants to add to my collection; most recently a palm tree.
“You know we live in Ohio, right…?” I said, knowing full well that a palm tree would be doomed in our house.
So far, the palm tree has not been brought home, but Christmas is coming…
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