It's officially my favorite time of the year; the week leading up to my all time favorite holiday... my birthday!!! Some think this fascination with my birthday is obnoxious and a bit ridiculous; however, I don't care. :-) Growing up my parents made sure to be as fair as possible when it came to gifts and presents for any holiday or occasion. Even the tooth fairy was so kind as to deliver a present to each of us. The one who lost a tooth received something a little more lucrative; but we all got something. (My friends were quite jealous of how the tooth fairy gave our family preferential treatment.) Birthdays were the only day of the year where the focus was on the birthday girl. It was the one day the excuse "but it's my birthday" got you out of doing the dishes, enabled you to force everyone to watch what you wanted to watch on tv, and call the shots on what was for dinner. Our neighbor, Ms. Judy, also made whatever dessert you wanted (and didn't make you share)! Who wouldn't want to look forward to that!?!
For most, the magic of birthdays fades away as we get older. Once you turn 21 birthdays seem to be just another day. I refuse to fall victim to this mindset. I continue to look at my birthday as the day I entered this world, a day to celebrate, a day to reflect, a day where family and friends get together to celebrate and have fun together, and a day free of responsibility. Of course that means no work! The beauty of this is I continue to look forward to my birthday. I could care less about how old I am (I actually had to do the math the other day to figure out how old I was... I didn't think that was supposed to happen for 20 more years). I just look at my birthday as a day to have fun and not feel bad about it.
So for all of you old (or young) fogies who don't CELEBRATE your birthday, do yourself a favor and take off work, remember the magic from when you were young, and give yourself permission to feel that way again. It's the best way to turn another year older.
Well, as I am sure you know, I completely agree with this philosophy. I actually take it a step further, and celebrate the entire month of Feb, since fate took my ACTUAL birthday off the calendar, well at least 3 out of 4 years of my life. I believe you should also celebrate all of Nov, which is why I sent your birthday present early!!!! Love you. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONTH!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou know how to celebrate, that's for sure. So far you're leading the following categories: Most prepared, Most Unique, and Best Handmade gift. Love you, too!!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh....I couldn't agree with you more! Birthdays around here are VERY festive. I put streamers and balloons and signs all over the house (inside and out). And we get to eat on a special "birthday" plate for all of our meals! Well, the birthday person eats on the special plate! I'm glad you have fun, too!!! Hope you have the best day EVER!: )
ReplyDeleteSarah, you are a genius. Why didn't I think of the birthday plate!?!?
ReplyDeleteFunny - we each had the birthday plate too! It always received the biggest slice of cake :)
ReplyDeleteI too am a huge celebrator of birthdays. It is a joyous day to be totally self-indulgent - what could be bad about that?
I hope that you come up with something wonderful to do this year!!
I once saw a suggestion that you should send your parents a thank you note on your birthday. At first, I laughed. But as I get older, I realize it's a beautiful gesture.
ReplyDeleteBTW, your gift is coming. But it's not handmade. Sorry. Love you!
I'm excited to see you on Friday night to give you your bday gift! I hope it makes you laugh!!! I think everyone secretly wants one, but won't admit it! Happy Bday Jeffer!
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