My birthday morning started like any other, with three lunchboxes. It was Hyun’s ESOL shared morning tea day, so I skipped her usual morning tea and packed her favourite snacks instead. While I was packing lunches, sweet Hyun gave me a present: a cake she had carefully drawn on bright yellow paper. Three tiers, no less.
After sending the kids off to school, I rushed through the tidying, made coffee, got the morning tea ready and headed to school, where I had a little peek at the kids’ school life before coming home. In the afternoon I ate the lunch my husband made, worked on my CV, and sorted through the kids’ clothes for the new season.
The kids came home from school, and late in the afternoon we got to the mall half an hour before closing. We wandered around and came home with just a few things to eat. A long power cut was scheduled for that night, of all nights, so we decided to have dinner at home. While my husband went from shop to shop picking up food the family loves and a cake, I got the dishwasher going early.
After dinner, before the power went, I got the kids showered and their teeth brushed early, and only then did we finally light the birthday candles. With the kitchen lights off, we sat close together, sang Happy Birthday, and I made a short wish and blew out the candles. Then everything went pitch black.
Only then did I turn on my phone torch and check the time. 9.30pm. The exact time the power cut was meant to start.
We cackled at the perfect timing and lit the candles once more, and this time the kids blew them out. They had already brushed their teeth and were ready for bed, so we saved the cake for the next day and the kids felt their way to bed in the dark. I moved the yoghurt and milk from the fridge to the freezer, covered the cake well and went to sleep. The power came back at 4.40am. The bedside lamp I had forgotten to switch off woke me with a glare. I went around the house turning off all the lights that had come on, switched the rice cooker back to keep-warm, and moved the milk and yoghurt, now starting to ice over, back into the fridge. By then, sleep was long gone.
Sorry, hubs. I left no evidence.
The day after my birthday, my husband made miyeokguk, seaweed soup, for the first time. In the evening we had fresh sashimi, prettily decorated with edible flowers, with a glass of wine.
And the day after that, which is this morning, I was packing lunches when Jin came over and whispered, “I’m drawing you a birthday picture, Mum, so you have to keep having your birthday tomorrow, and tomorrow again.” Another birthday present a friend sent from Korea will soon arrive from across the sea. Will my birthday ever actually end?
My oddly weary, awfully funny, fondly comfy happy birthday.
한국어 요약
엄마의 생일 기록. 생일 아침도 여느 날처럼 도시락 세 개로 시작됐다. Hyun의 ESOL 쉐어드 모닝티 날이라 학교에 들러 아이들의 학교생활을 살짝 엿보고, 오후엔 이력서를 쓰고 아이들 계절옷을 정리했다. Hyun은 노란 종이에 3단 생일 케이크를 그려 선물해주었다. 하필 그날 밤엔 긴 정전이 예정되어 있었다. 저녁은 집에서 먹고 아이들을 미리 씻긴 뒤 생일 초에 불을 붙였는데, 촛불을 끈 순간 집 안이 칠흑같이 깜깜해졌다. 정전이 예고된 바로 그 9시 30분이었다. 냉장고 음식을 냉동고로 옮기고, 새벽 4시 40분 전기가 돌아오자 켜진 불을 끄고 밥솥을 다시 켜며 잠이 달아났다. 생일 다음 날엔 남편이 처음으로 미역국을 끓였고, 저녁엔 회에 와인을 곁들였다. 그리고 오늘 아침, Jin은 엄마 생일 그림을 그리고 있으니 내일, 또 내일까지 계속 생일이어야 한다고 속삭였다. 이상하게 시들하고, 지독하게 웃기고, 사랑스럽게 편안한 엄마의 생일 이야기.
Yussi
Writer · Social work student, Massey University
A mother of three girls and a Korean immigrant making Mairangi Bay home — writing about starting school, home learning and everyday life on Auckland's North Shore.
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