Happy Birthday To Meeeee
Blogged on Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 by Rachael. Filed in Blog365, Contradictory, Holidays, Philosophical.
Hey guess what! I just turned 30!!
Annnnd…. it’s kind of anti-climactic. I thought turning another decade old was supposed to be large and possibly upsetting, and at the very least somewhat change-ful. Is that a word?
I have all these Facebook wall posts and messages wishing me a happy birthday, and I’ve gotten a card in the mail already too. Actually I have kind of a neurosis about my birthday leftover from childhood, although (thankfully!) it doesn’t really bother me any more.
See, my brother and sister have birthdays during the summer also, but before mine. My brother’s is first, then two weeks later is my sister’s, then two weeks and two days later is mine. Usually grandparents would come visiting for one of their birthdays, but never mine, simply because it was the last one and that’s a lot of traveling for older relatives. I always felt weirdly left out, even though nobody treated me any differently, and I never received fewer gifts or cards or any less attention. Chalk it up to being ridiculously sensitive? It was only one set of grandparents, so in retrospect it seems REALLY silly.
Then, when I was a bit older (read: in my late teens and early twenties), I saw birthdays as a chance to have some extra attention, and to be able to ask for things I couldn’t have otherwise. Like money. Haha. Then I grew up a little and simultaneously realized that I could buy MY OWN stuff now, and also that extra birthday attention is actually kind of meaningless. I mean, it’s one day a year, right? If I need that much social interaction, then I can get it pretty much every day.
So now, there doesn’t seem to be much of a point to having a birthday any more. Or maybe I haven’t figured out how to have a grownup birthday (I almost said ADULT BIRTHDAY but that sounds naughty, haha). Or MAYBE, it doesn’t actually matter.
In conclusion, it’s my birthday and I feel ambivalent about it! How do you feel on your birthdays? Is it different than you felt when you were a kid?
6 Responses to “Happy Birthday To Meeeee”
First, happy birthday! And yes, I do feel differently about them now than when I was a kid. I also enjoy my KIDS birthdays more than my own, as a remembering their birth day…and I try to tell my mom and other moms “Happy birthing day” on their child’s birthday.
At best, I get a meal out at a restaurant of my choice on my birthday, which is nice, but otherwise? Meh.
Christi’s last blog post..Flashback Contest Winner!
Aug 23, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You don’t have to make a big deal out of it, BUT… you DO need a cake!
Have fun, girlie.
thatgirlblogs’s last blog post..Subject: Flora
Aug 23, 2008
Happy birthday you young thing you! I hope you enjoy your special day. As for how I celebrated my last birthday … you can read about it at Small Reflections here and here.
Hugs and blessings,
storyteller’s last blog post..PhotoHunt#16 - Wrinkled … Camera Critters #22 Smiley Saturday #16 and More Olympics Musings
Aug 23, 2008
Happy Birthday!
My birthday is still a special day, just in different ways. My husband and I have dinner with out adult children and their spouses, which is always fun, and get a few gifts.
The present I enjoy most is the one I give myself: I take a personal day off from work and wander - depending on the weather, it could be outdoors or book browsing or window shopping - with a treat for lunch. I need those Me Days every once in a while.
diane’s last blog post..Kaleidoscope
Aug 23, 2008
Oops - that “with our adult children…” Now that they’re married, I am without them for most meals!
diane’s last blog post..Kaleidoscope
Aug 23, 2008
Happy and Blessed Solar Return!
I am very selfish about my birthday - even now (in 8 days I will be 31, which for all intents and purposes is even MORE special since it’s my *GOLDEN* birthday!). It is the one day of the year that is exclusively mine and I deserve to be showered with LOTS of attention. I had one friend who never remembered my birthday and it hurt my feelings soooooo bad. When things go badly, I’m terribly disappointed, hurt and a very sore sport.
I admit that it does seem a bit immature to be so high-maintenance about one day, but it is, after all, only ONE DAY!
And in my defense, I treat all friends and relatives the same way - I make a huge deal about their birthday, because dammit, birthdays are special :)
tata’s last blog post..Two years of wedded bliss
Aug 23, 2008