Originally written in January of 2011, but apparently never published...
That is as long as it isn't an adult's birthday. I don't know when birthdays stopped being fun. I'm thinking sometime in the mid-20's when people stopped noticing it's arrival and passing or when we started blowing it off as just another day. We'd get a card from the parents, flowers and/or a lovely gift from the significant other, and a phone call from a few friends. No big to-do or exclamations of "Look how much you've grown!" or "When did you get so tall?" or "Who's a big girl now? Whooooo?".
This year is different though, because it's not my birthday. It is The Daughter's birthday. She's three years old. Her cake was picked out this weekend which was thankfully toned down from her original cake request.
Me: What kind of cake do you want for your birthday this year?
TD: I want chocolate.
Me: Ok, easy enough. What kind of decoration do you want on your cake?
TD: I want Cinderella, Tiana, Lightning MsQueen (that's how she pronounces it), Sleeping Beauty, Buzz Lightyear, Mater, Sully, Belle, Darth Vader, Beast, Woody, Snow White, Shrek...
Me: Uuuuhhhhhh...
Anyway, she picked the Buzz Lightyear/Woody cake from the catalog at the grocery store so we will actually be able to fit Happy Birthday on it between the plastic flotsam.
I tried to talk to her about presents for her birthday and she poo-poo'd me and stated that Santa already brought her presents and that they are on her shelves in the playroom. What kid refuses gifts? Mine apparently. I'm sure she'll change her mind when she starts opening them in front of the grandparents after imbibing an unhealthy amount of chocolate Buzz and Woody cake along with the chocolate ice cream.
At least I'm excited! More excited than she is, I think. It just feels good to be anticipating a birthday again. They should be fun and not just a way to mark time passing us by.
Follow-up: It was a fun birthday that we celebrated 5 days after the original date due to illness. The birthday girl got pretty sick and purged her birthday cupcakes at daycare the day of her party. She was better by the time we rescheduled and had a great day.
That is as long as it isn't an adult's birthday. I don't know when birthdays stopped being fun. I'm thinking sometime in the mid-20's when people stopped noticing it's arrival and passing or when we started blowing it off as just another day. We'd get a card from the parents, flowers and/or a lovely gift from the significant other, and a phone call from a few friends. No big to-do or exclamations of "Look how much you've grown!" or "When did you get so tall?" or "Who's a big girl now? Whooooo?".
This year is different though, because it's not my birthday. It is The Daughter's birthday. She's three years old. Her cake was picked out this weekend which was thankfully toned down from her original cake request.
Me: What kind of cake do you want for your birthday this year?
TD: I want chocolate.
Me: Ok, easy enough. What kind of decoration do you want on your cake?
TD: I want Cinderella, Tiana, Lightning MsQueen (that's how she pronounces it), Sleeping Beauty, Buzz Lightyear, Mater, Sully, Belle, Darth Vader, Beast, Woody, Snow White, Shrek...
Me: Uuuuhhhhhh...
Anyway, she picked the Buzz Lightyear/Woody cake from the catalog at the grocery store so we will actually be able to fit Happy Birthday on it between the plastic flotsam.
I tried to talk to her about presents for her birthday and she poo-poo'd me and stated that Santa already brought her presents and that they are on her shelves in the playroom. What kid refuses gifts? Mine apparently. I'm sure she'll change her mind when she starts opening them in front of the grandparents after imbibing an unhealthy amount of chocolate Buzz and Woody cake along with the chocolate ice cream.
At least I'm excited! More excited than she is, I think. It just feels good to be anticipating a birthday again. They should be fun and not just a way to mark time passing us by.
Follow-up: It was a fun birthday that we celebrated 5 days after the original date due to illness. The birthday girl got pretty sick and purged her birthday cupcakes at daycare the day of her party. She was better by the time we rescheduled and had a great day.
