September is a big birthday month in our family rapidly followed by October when another round of birthdays commence. I’m the November gal and then there are two more in December. The result is lots of fun for three months when we go into celebration mode. Sadly two more follow in January so soon after Christmas that we have to pinch ourselves to remember to acknowledge them.
One year my daughter who was born on December 20 decided that she wanted a birthday at a normal time of year, not in the middle of the Christmas rush. We let her choose the date when we would have a party and she leaned toward the summer, mostly because she wanted a day that would not include going to school. She ended up choosing a date that sounded good and we went along with her wishes. As you’ve probably guessed it totally bombed out. Somehow it never seems quite right to attempt to change the birthday date lottery to one that is seemingly better. It was too early in the year and when her actual birth date arrived she felt funny pretending that she had already enjoyed her special day months earlier. We never again tried to fabricate her special celebration.
I sometimes laugh when I see how complex birthday parties have become. Doors are adorned with balloons and often there is a huge sign in the yard announcing the joyful moment to everyone who passes by. Gifts are staged sky high and fancy food is either brought to the house or found at five star restaurants. Of course there are often formal photography sessions with special outfits purchased just for the occasion. My propensity for doing math begins to add up the cost of such mega celebrations and it boggles my old fashioned mind.
I suppose that I was just an ordinary mother to my children. I usually had a homemade cake and a few gifts and called it a day. If I remembered to take out my camera I record the day with a few photos I was lucky. Mostly it was a low key affair with perhaps a few close friends or family members joining us. I don’t know if I should feel guilty for hosting such plain celebrations or if I should congratulate myself for being frugal. I suppose that it’s all just a reflection of the changing times and perhaps if I were still a young mom I would a bit more willing to demonstrate how much I loved the birthday boy or girl by planning an extravaganza.
My mother threw a few birthday parties for me when I was young. They usually involved have a few of the neighbor kids and my cousins over for some cake and ice cream. If she was really in party mode there might even be a game of hang the tail on the donkey with prices for everyone. Oh how simple times were back then!
I admit to causing my eldest daughter a bit of grief when she was a child. We decided to celebrate her July birthday by filling a blow up swimming pool with water and telling the kids she invited to wear their bathing suits. Our plan was to let them go wild with the hose in the backyard and then have some cake and ice cream. A few of those that she invited assumed that we had built a pool in our backyard and they were stunned to see that the tiny rubber pond and hose would be their entertainment. It took a long time for my daughter to live down the insults that followed. Not even my urging that she overlook their rudeness seemed to salve the emotional wounds that she incurred.
Now that I am an older woman I am even more low key when my own birthday comes around. I haven’t had to work on that day in quite some time and I often do something by myself that makes me happy. I don’t seem to need the attention that I so enjoyed as a child. My birthday reminds me that the happiest time of year is on its way with Thanksgiving and all the frivolities of Christmas. During those weeks I get to see people that I had not encountered all year long and I find that just being with them is the only gift that I desire.
This year my husband and eldest grandson will launch the three months of celebration with a party together. It seems that three of my all time favorite men were all born in September My dad is on the second, my husband on the twentieth and my grandson on the twenty sixth. We’’ll have a small quiet gathering of family with some fajitas from our favorite Tex/Mex restaurant and a small cake. Nobody eats sweets in quantities like they once did. We are all watching our waistlines and thinking about eating clean and healthy food. Birthdays are an exception to our new routines.
I think it’s rather amazing that we humans decided to celebrate our circuits around the sun. I wonder who first had the idea to do so. Who thought of bringing gifts? How did it all evolve? That’s something I need to research. I’ll get back to you when I find the answers. Until then let the celebrations begin!
All It Takes Is A Little Love 