This weekend I saw a post on Facebook that went something like this:

“When I grew up, we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by wearing green.  The End.”

Luckily I’m able to laugh at myself, because this post is most likely directed at moms like me who like to turn every special occasion into a themed extravaganza.

Take our annual St. Paddy Poker Party for example. Perhaps we should rename it the St. Paddy Pinterest Poker Party?  It’s a potluck filled with rainbow fruit trays, four leaf clover veggie dips, pot of gold cupcakes, and green mint milkshakes.  Not to mention a gourmet build-your-own-reuben bar.  Is this a problem?

The kids have always been a pivotal part of this celebration.  It all started with a few harmless hands of blackjack:

Fast forward three years, and there is a serious kids’ poker table.  Real chips, real money, and real poker faces.  The big winner here went home with a $2.00 profit.  It was huge.

My dad warned me that time would fly, but this is ridiculous.  I remember Sam’s childbirth like it was yesterday, but in our literal yesterday he wore sunglasses to protect his poker face.  Because he’s old enough to play poker.  When did this happen?

As I watched Maggie carry around our friend’s preschool aged daughter, I realized she is almost old enough to babysit.  Time. Is. Flying.

I. Am. Gasping.

And maybe that’s why women of my generation turn to Pinterest.  We – like our parents before us – want make these blessed years with our children as memorable as possible.  There’s just a bit more pressure in this day and age when so many creative ideas are plastered around social media.

The challenge is to find the balance.  I have to make a conscious effort to put away my mom apps like Facebook and Pinterest, and I have to help the kids regulate their technology use as well.  Whenever the kids and I clash over the Clans or tiptoe around Minecraft it makes me pine for SIMpler days before we owned an iPad.

Next year, maybe we’ll stick to green t-shirts and poker.  But if my Pinteresty mom friends want to bring little pots of gold cupcakes again, who am I to stop them? 😉