Marit’s 12th Birthday (Part Deux) – The MPB

Marit’s 12th birthday celebration was a two-day affair.

On Friday (the day after her actual birthday) we played Birthday Hooky.

Part II was the next day, on Saturday.

That afternoon Kristofer had a swim meet at Fairfield University which is a little less than an hour from our house, and 30 minutes from my parents’ house.

So we all went to watch Kristofer’s meet, and then we headed to Grammy and Papa’s house to celebrate as a family.

It had been a really busy week, and I hadn’t gotten Marit a birthday present yet.

Well, I did give her a pair of slippers from Costco on her actual birthday. And her birthday “experience” the day before was her “big” gift from me.

But I still wanted to have something for her to open and unwrap on Saturday at our little family celebration.

Side note #1…

Marit’s soccer cleats fit her fine and are in good condition – she’s had them for two or three seasons and hasn’t grown out of them yet, but they smell DISGUSTING.

Like she left them in the car overnight after practice a couple weeks ago and I had to leave the windows open for two days to get the smell out kind of disgusting.

We don’t even keep them in the house anymore – they have to stay outside in the garage which is detached and far away from the house.😂

But we are so close to the end of the season, and we were trying to make it through to the last game with the smelly cleats because she’s on the verge of a growth spurt – I can see it – and who knows what size her feet will be by April.

Kasen and Marit rode with my parents to their house, and I Kristofer and Gretchen rode with me.

On the ride home I told them I hadn’t gotten anything for Marit yet. I had been so busy I hadn’t even thought about what to get her.

“You should get her new cleats, Mom,” Gretchen said.

I liked that idea.

My parents live about 20 minutes from the mall where Dick’s is, so I snuck out right after we got back from the meet and ran to the mall.

This is not the best time of year to buy soccer cleats. It’s slim pickins this far into the season, especially for an affordable pair. And by affordable I mean under $100.

But I lucked out.

A super helpful employee found the ONE pair of Nike club (aka cheap) cleats in the store in a women’s 8 1/2 and they were $60.

My mom had a $30 reward coupon from Dick’s, so I only had to pay $30 for them.

I crossed my fingers that they would fit, and I headed back to my parents’ house.

Side note #2…

My dad really enjoys the process of wrapping Christmas presents (I know. My mom is the luckiest woman in the world).

He has a lot of fun with it.

Like many of us, my parents appreciate a good box, and they hold onto the good ones that might be useful for something down the road.

Last Christmas Gretchen asked for a pair of Crocs.

My parents and I coordinate what we are getting for the kids, and my mom wanted to get them for her.

They didn’t come in a box, so Dad went down to the basement to find something that would work.

Enter… the MPB.

The Matress Protector Box.

He put the Crocs in a box my parents had saved after buying a new mattress protector.

You can’t see what’s inside when the box is totally closed, and Gretchen thought my parents actually bought her a new mattress protector.

I could tell she was a little bummed by this gift, but she was so polite about it.

“Grammy and Papa, thank you so much for the mattress protector,” she said, feigning enthusiasm.

“Open it up!” my dad said to her.

When she saw the Crocs inside she was super excited, and we all had a good laugh.

Good one, Papa.

I asked my parents to save the MP box. I knew it would come in handy again sometime.

That time was on Part II of Marit’s Birthday Extravaganza.

I texted Gretchen as I was walking out of Dick’s.

Tell Grammy to find the mattress pad box. 

Gretchen was on it.

I snuck back into the house while the kids were playing cards with my dad and tiptoed upstairs where my mom had all the wrapping necessities – and the MPB – spread out on the bed in my old bedroom.

I wrapped the cleats in tissue paper, stuck them in the MPB, wrapped the box in wrapping paper, and stuck it in a gift bag.

My parents had gotten an ice cream cake with the standard Happy Birthday already written on it.

They got some extra gel to personalize it. Marit wanted to do the decorating herself.

With her cake decorated to her liking, we sat down to sing Happy Birthday.

We ate ice cream cake, and then it was present time.

My parents gave her a card with some money in it.

Then she moved onto my gift.

Marit pulled the box out of the bag and started unwrapping.

Stormie wanted in on the action.

Marit was anxious with anticipation to see what was inside.

The excitement faded when she thought we got her a mattress protector.

Kristofer was a little bummed for her, too. 😂

Apparently nobody remembered the Crocs from Christmas.

We told her to open the box.

Oh Thank God, she said.

I don’t know if she was more excited that she didn’t actually get a mattress protector or that she didn’t have to put the old, disgusting cleats on her feet anymore.

Either way, she was really happy.

The new cleats fit her perfectly, the MPB is back in my parents’ basement waiting for its next big moment, and it was the perfect ending to her simple and inexpensive two-day 12th birthday celebration.