Birthdays (Food for Thought)

 

Oh birthdays. With my husband’s coming up it got me thinking. I used to call him the “Birthday Grinch” because he loathed his; thinking my in laws ruined him for not celebrating him enough as a kid (cue 1of 5 kids), but now he just might be on to something. 

Call me crazy or it might be because I’m hitting mid thirties, but I’m way less into birthdays than I used to be. Is it failed expectations? Covid? Society? Lack of social media? Perhaps all of the above! 

After years of being disappointed of lack of phone calls, then turned posts, then turned texts I’ve kind of realized that the ones who matter most tend to remember and make it feel special. And oh, it turns out that I’m an introvert who doesn’t like all of the attention. Who knew?! In fact I'm not a big sing to me either kind of gal. Am I officially offending you now?! And after being off of social media completely, I am terrible at remembering birthdays too. Im all about confession. 

If Im being completely honest, I used to think my worth was tied up to who wished me a happy birthday. I know, a little self righteous of me. In fact, it was never about the presents (always more about the cards), because I thought my special day had to be a neon sign reminder of how much I mattered to others in my life. 

Now back to my “Birthday Grinch,” it’s his big one this year and he wouldn’t even let me buy the # candle for his cheesecake. So I didn’t, and instead it inspired me to book a vacation on my own this summer. My phone might not even make it in the pool bag that day. 

Turns out, there is something to making birthdays truly about what you want; from what you don’t want to what you want to eat, who you want to be with, and what you want to do. 

If this makes me a “Birthday Grinch” too, than that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever called me, 

S.