Dear Mama, November 2 is your birthday. We have been having a very important meeting about it. There were two members present, several interruptions, and one disagreement about whether the meeting should have treats.
But we agreed immediately on this: you are the best Mama, and you deserve a very big celebration. Usually, you are the one making sure everybody has what they need. This time, we want to make a whole day for you.
We would like you to sit down, feel loved, and allow your two highly motivated sons to handle everything. Connor may wish to remain nearby. There are a few things we have never handled before.
First, there will be a cake.
Simba: I thought we should make it ourselves. Mama teaches us things all the time. Surely some of that education applies to cake.
Tiger: I agreed to supervise the structure. The instructions said to make layers. We have produced layers. They simply have different ideas about where the middle is.
Our plan is a beautiful birthday cake with soft pink frosting. The practice cake is leaning. Some frosting has gone onto the counter, some onto Tiger's hat, and some onto Simba, who says this is part of the decoration. We are still looking for the spatula. It is directly in front of us, but we are looking very hard.
We have discovered that love, enthusiasm, and the ability to high-five do not automatically make a person good at baking. We are continuing anyway. Mama has never made us feel silly for needing another try.
The birthday menu
We do not want Mama to spend her birthday deciding what everybody will eat. Each brother has therefore taken responsibility for a dish. Neither brother has agreed to take responsibility for the other brother's dish.
Simba: The shrimp was my idea. A little plate would suggest that only one person could have some. A big bowl in the middle says, “We are a family. Everybody come over here.” I think that is very elegant.
I have selected the frozen version because it comes with a useful feature: the shrimp stay together. There will be a serving spoon. Whether the spoon can separate them is a question for Connor. I am responsible for the concept.
Tiger: I am attempting a more difficult recipe. Anybody can obtain a bowl. My dish requires research, balance, and access to a trash can that Mama believed was closed.
I will arrange chips into a tall, delicate structure, incorporating some crumbs and interesting bits of wrapper I found in the bin. There are textures. There is height. There is a piece of foil whose contribution I cannot fully explain, but I believe the dish would miss it.
I am calling it Chips à la Trash Can. It will be both challenging and delicious. Mama may call it something else. Great cooking invites discussion.
But this is what we really want to say.
We can make jokes about the cake. We can argue about the menu. We are very good at arguing about a menu. But we do not want the important part of your birthday to get lost underneath the frosting.
Mama, you are so kind to us. You notice when we want company, when we need a quiet place, when we are ready to play, and when a small cat needs a little help being brave. You make room for both of us, even when we have made being in the same room unnecessarily complicated.
A little letter from Simba
Thank you for always
answering me.
Mama, I know I have a lot to say. Sometimes I say it from the hallway. Sometimes from the couch. Sometimes I am already next to you and still need to explain that I would like to be next to you.
You answer me. You talk to me, make a place for me, and somehow understand that a very loud boy can also be a boy who needs reassurance. When you come home, the whole house feels right again.
Thank you for teaching me new things. When you hold out your hand, I know what to do now. I am proud of that. You let me try, you get happy when I learn, and you make me feel like a very clever cat. I know we discuss the treats a lot. I also like that you are proud of me.
Thank you for the treats. I want that sentence to have its own place in this letter.
And thank you for all the soft places where I can wait for you, and for letting the best place so often be beside you. For your birthday, I will give you a very good high five. Afterward, I might leave my paw in your hand for a while.
Love, Simba
A little letter from Tiger
Thank you for helping me
feel brave.
Mama, I do not always arrive first. Sometimes I watch for a moment before joining in. Sometimes my brother arrives first, second, and third, all during the same opportunity.
You still make sure there is room for me. You encourage me when I am learning. You notice my progress, even when it takes both paws to explain it. You make trying feel like something good, rather than something I have to be good at immediately.
That is how I am becoming more confident: a little at a time, with you nearby. A boy who has been loved this kindly can start to believe there is a place for him on the chair, on the couch, and in the middle of the family.
Thank you for giving us the best houses to live in. I appreciate the actual house, the boxes inside the house, the blankets inside the boxes, and the new couches. I have written extensively about property. The finest feature of any home is that somebody wants you there.
You make us feel wanted every day. For your birthday, I want you to feel just as certain about how much we want you with us. I will sit close enough that you can feel me purring.
Love, Tiger
We have also made you some presents.
There will be a handmade card with our paw prints, a small box wrapped with more determination than accuracy, and a collection of objects we thought you might like. One of the presents may be the box itself. Tiger would like you to know that giving away a box is a significant personal gesture.
Simba is contributing a birthday high five, a very long cuddle, and a promise to consider sharing Mama with his brother for the duration of the celebration. Tiger has requested that this last gift be put in writing.
We will help you open everything. If the wrapping paper needs to be sat on, we will do that too. You should not have to manage all of your birthday responsibilities alone.
Our favorite part of the plan
After the dinner, after the gifts, and after someone has helped our cake remain on its plate, we want to sit with you. No complicated program. Just you, your boys, and somewhere soft to land.
You spend so many ordinary days making our lives lovely. You teach us. You comfort us. You give us treats and chances and places to curl up. You laugh at our very serious work. You love us through our loud moments, our shy moments, and our less successful attempts at sharing.
We hope your birthday feels like all that kindness coming back to you.
With all our love · November 2
Happy birthday, Mama.
Every house feels like home
because you are in it.
Your boys,
Simba & Tiger