Feb 18
Oh, yeah. Today is my birthday.
I forgot. Big Sis reminded me mid-morning. I said…
“Huh?”
Yup. My birthday is huge event.
I’ll probably get a couple of emails or IMs to remind me again later. With a small family spread out all over the the country and the world, celebrations are all a little flat and I can’t really get excited about it. That’s not a complaint in any way. I’m just not enthused. Is that normal? Is there an age when you’ve just had enough birthdays for them to be something of a farce? Or do some people still get a buzz from all the fuss and personal attention?
Is there an age when there is no longer any fuss and personal attention, and it just becomes a polite exercise?
Wow, this sounds dreary. I don’t mean it to. Woo-hoo! I’m 35! Nope, can’t do it. It’s just another number. I’m really looking forward to Caspar’s birthdays when he is old enough to enjoy them. (And when I don’t freak out about the whole thing like last year.) I’m looking forward to making the whole day an event, to making them memorable and special and filled with fun and love. So perhaps birthdays are for children and there is a time “to put away childish things”.
My birthday? Meh.
Having said that, though, I do love other people’s birthdays. I like buying presents and going to parties and making a fuss, so maybe when I am living back in town and can see whatever friends I have left who are still hanging on to threads of relationships stretched by inaccessibility, I’ll find the fun again.
Until then… Happy Birthday To Me. On a day just like any other day.
Seriously, is this normal or sad?
February 18th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
A birthday can be a happy or sad event.
You can enjoy the day or it can be ho hum.
Whatever the day means to you is up to you.
For what it’s worth, happy birthday.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Happy old day!
I just wax nostalgic anymore, and look forward to calling my kids “youngins”
February 18th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
(8) It’s your birthday, it’s your birthday and we want to say,
Many happy, many happy returns for they day(8)
shuddup! That’s what they sing at the school assembly and I does likes to be different!!
**blows kisses**
February 18th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
We sing this at church:
Happy Birthday to you
To Jesus be true
May his love and his blessings
Descend upon you !!!!
MWAH MWAH sweetie.
Happy birthday with lashings of dairy whip and spank worthy young men.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
and babysitting vouchers from reliable people………….. come to think of it……… I’m reliable. I’ll babysit your little ghost for you while you go and farewell your youth…………. shit! I’m 35 next month. Will that make me officially old?
February 18th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
OI !!!!!!
I am 40, going on 20……. Old age is for the old age minded.
I am as young as the spank worthy men I perve at.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Is singing Jesus’ blessings and talking of spank worthy men in the same breath odd ???
February 18th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Could be tied in a little with your self esteem? I had a bit of an epiphany of sorts on my birthday last year. I don’t usually leave links in peoples comments but if you’re interested in reading it you can find it here http://www.lighteningonline.com/2007/07/01/on-getting-older/
(((HUGS))) and Happy Birthday wishes Babe. It’s time to celebrate that the world is a better place BECAUSE you were born.
February 18th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
and so say all of us!!
February 18th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
so if you don’t like chocolate, what do you like for a treat that we can virtually send you?? huh? huh?
February 18th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
You guys (Yes, I mean you Widdle Shamrocks & Bettina!) are nutters. Just like a couple of hyper Labrador puppies.
Thank you for birthday wishes, all.
Anja - Yup. Just another ho hum day here. But that’s fine. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything.
Thordora - Lol. Why am I picturing a rocking chair on a verandah now?
Bettina - I don’t think there is any such thing as old. Well, that’s not true. Sometimes I think other people are old, but I never think I am.
Widdle Shamrock - Dairy whip and “spank-worthy” men aren’t high on my list of desires (in fact, the thought makes me throw up a little in my mouth) but I appreciate the sentiment.
Lightening - Thank you. {{hugs}} That’s a beautiful post. I don’t think it’s self-esteem so much as isolation. Some things in life are much better shared with other people. But I probably should just take a moment or two to just sit down and and celebrate who I am. That actually sounds nice.
Bettina - My alternatives to chocolate? Cognac. A good amaretto sour or a Manhattan made with Woodford. Lamb’s brains. Pate. Toffee apples. Fairy floss. And the one that is guaranteed to make me smile the most? A pomegranate.
And {{hugs}} and all around.
February 18th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Although I made a bit of a big deal about my birthday this year (the big four-oh), I’m pretty much ho-hum about them. Mind you, I don’t think I’ve ever forgotten!
Birthdays are for kids in my opinion, so I think you’re normal
But Happy Birthday anyway!
February 18th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Yeah, birthdays are for those who can get excited about the idea of being older (ie kids). But happy birthday anyway!
February 18th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Congratulations on being a whole day older than yesterday! *tehehe*
February 18th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Happy Birthday! It is my birthday today also (seriously it is, I am not just saying that!) Today has been a bit blah, but I celebrated with friends on Saturday night which was fun. I am not a huge fan of my own birthday, but like you I love other birthdays and making a fuss!!!
So I will sing you a japanese birthday song, in the same tune as happy birthday…well type it to you anyway
Otanjyoubi omedetou
Otanjyoubi Omedetou
Otanjyoubi omedetou cerebral mum
otanjyoubi omedetou!
February 18th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
I definitely get a lot more enthusiastic and interested in the kid’s birthdays than my own these days. I’ve had 35 of them too and they are not that exciting after a while. So I don’t think you should worry about the normal response to a birthday and even if you are not bothered about celebrating it, you still have lots of people to think about you today and hope that you’re happy, including me. Good thoughts are always a nice thing. And fairy floss. That’s nice too.
February 18th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Happy meh day.
February 19th, 2008 at 12:00 am
@ Meg - Yay! I’m normal! (I didn’t think I’d ever say that.) Making a big deal out of the 40 makes sense. I think even I could work up some excitement over a decade.
@ Brett - I did have a happy birthday anyway. Kisses.
@ Allison - Exactly!
@ Lulu - Happy Birthday! Are you on the same date as me? I have no idea what the time difference is for Japan. I love the song you sang, er… typed for me. Otanjyoubi omedetou, Lulu!
@ Guera - More confirmation of my normality! Soon, I shall have to shave my head and run through the streets naked just to make it clear that I will not conform.
All the good thoughts today have been lovely, and they’ve made me smile a lot!
@ Heath - I am so using that as the title of next year’s birthday blog post! I love it. And kisses to you too.
Hmm. I think I’ve been sexist with my kisses. Kisses for everyone!
February 19th, 2008 at 8:02 am
I did the whole shaved head thing when I was 20…………. saves on shampoo! lol
February 19th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Gah, far from driving up in a car tied with a red bow, I was away from home on the day and didn’t even send you a message. Here it is now. (No, not the car; come away from the window!)
I am very big deal about birthdays, my own and other people’s.
I think you are missing the point, so let me clarify it for you -
Cerebral Mum dear, I am REAL glad you got born! I prefer my life with you in it.
And ‘Many Happy Returns’ - i.e. stick around for a LONG time!
February 19th, 2008 at 9:59 am
@ Bettina - Yes it does.
But, as I found in my 20s, you have to keep shaving it so regularly. No hair is not a low maintenance hairstyle!
@ SnakyPoet - You make me laugh. I’m glad you’re glad I got born! {{Hugs}}
February 20th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Happy belated birthday! I think as we get older, we forget to enjoy our own milestones as well as our kids’.
Hope you had a good day!
February 20th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
you’re right, it’s not low maintenance…………. and it’s an absolute bitch when you get sunburnt and your scalp peels