10 Years!

Today is a special day for the Rowe parents: our 10th wedding anniversary!

The kids don't get it.  In fact, it seemed that they were out to get us this morning, with Madeleine waking up at 6am and loudly, joyously exclaiming things from her bed.  Since her pull-up is dry nearly every morning now, I wondered if she'd woken up out of a need to use the potty, so I went into her bedroom.

ME: Madeleine, do you need to go potty?
MADELEINE: No, I just want to finish sleeping.
ME: You can definitely go back to sleep!  It's not even time to get up yet.  But I'm just wondering if you want to try the potty?
MADELEINE: No, I just want to finish sleeping.
ME: Okay.  Well, I'm going down to go potty.  Do you want to go with me and try the potty too?
MADELEINE: No, I just want to finish sleeping.
ME: Okay.  Well, then go back to sleep.  Good night.

After I had used the toilet, I got back into bed, and had finally arranged the blankets just so and gotten myself into a comfortable position, conducive to falling back asleep, when whose thumping feet should I hear walking towards my bedroom door?

ME: What is it, Madeleine?
MADELEINE: Mommy, I need to go on the POTTY!

Once she was done with the potty and I had settled her back in bed, I returned to my room to once again try and get back to sleep.  Unfortunately, Madeleine had a serious crisis and felt the need to wail about a problem I'm sure we can all relate to: she needed sparkle nail polish on her finger.  Understandably, she was inconsolable over this urgent need and the fact that I was denying her.  And lucky for me, her wailing awoke Julia, who burst into Madeleine's room to announce that she couldn't fall back asleep.

So, awake at the crack of dawn it was.

Despite the rocky start, we had a really nice family morning, all four of us Rowes going out to breakfast to celebrate the big anniversary.  (Still, the kids did not seem to get what the big deal was.  "Is Daddy working from home today?" Julia asked.  "No, he took the day off, because it's our anniversary," I told her.  Looking at me, baffled, she asked, "But why do you stay home on your ANNIVERSARY?")

I know.  Forgive us.  How lame.

At any rate, in an attempt to recreate our honeymoon in France, Ethan and I took the kids to a small café in our town, which happens to serve crêpes and espresso, among other breakfast delights:

Coincidentally, this café also serves Greek cuisine, because one of the chefs is actually a native Greek.  So it was truly a reminder of our wedding day, getting married in the Greek Orthodox church, then spending the next 10 days frequenting French cafés in Nice.  How perfect!

When we returned home, I began giving Ethan his anniversary gifts, ten presents for ten years, each present symbolic of a particularly poignant event in our lives in each given year.  I think it was during this elaborate gift giving that Julia finally clued in on the fact that this special day was truly being celebrated.  Suddenly, she was overcome with guilt for not having gotten gifts for us as well, so in consolation, she grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on and presented it to Ethan.

"Daddy, I have a present for you, too!"  she exclaimed.  "I got you... THIS!"

Now.  If that gift doesn't have Ethan's name written ALL OVER IT, I'm not sure what does.


A bit later in the morning, she amended her gifts, instead taking the time to give us handmade artwork.

"Daddy, this is for you!  It's BEER, COFFEE, and a BAGEL!":

And for me?  What can I say?  My daughter knows me too well.
"And this is for you, Mom.  It's two FLUFFER BAGELS!":

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, Ethan, my love!