Well hello, hello and hello again to you all! So nice to have you here. I can happily report that my antibiotic days are over and my tonsillitis has made a full retreat. Thank goodness! I hope that you are staying healthy as the season is changing over at this time of year.
For me here in the northern hemisphere we are drifting through spring, hopefully progressing towards a very warm, sun-filled summer. Which in our part of Germany is certainly not guaranteed! I know of at least one summer since I arrived here that not one single day was over 30°C (86°F). Which for an Australian girl like me was essentially an oxymoron in the definition of summer.
There are 2 big things that I really enjoy about May in the northern hemisphere. The first is that Spring is in full swing (hey, that rhymes!). And the second is that my birthday is coming up! What’s not to love about Spring flowers and birthdays? Wouldn’t you agree?!?
Flowers= My Happy Place 😊. Sure, in this family we aren’t perfectionist landscape gardeners by any means. So I find gardening relatively stress-free. The daffodils have already finished blooming, the tulips are on their way out and the irises and hydrangeas are still coming. And we have been very busy this week planting new life and colour around our garden: fuschias, rhododendrons, daisys, sunflowers, gladiolus bulbs (** Fun Fact #1**: the plural of gladiolus is gladioli! Just thought I’d throw a spot of education into this post 😉), petunias, wildflowers, a hazelnut sapling and a herb garden. We’re not outstanding green thumbs, but the garden should end up looking fantastically bright and cheery in the coming months. And then I can sit back and enjoy. *contented sigh*
Of course with an upcoming birthday comes the weighty decision of what to do about it. I’m not sure about you, but I find celebrating children’s birthdays is way less complicated. Or am I alone in that way of thinking? But celebrating my own birthday…. meh. Feeling very undecided.
You see, our youngest daughter also has her birthday in May. Our Miss 7 will soon be reaching the ripe old age of 8. Her birthday is a couple of weeks after mine, but you wouldn’t know it. She has been bustling around with excitement and losing sleep FOR WEEKS already, talking a million miles to the second. About her gift wishlist. About the friends she could invite to celebrate with her. About all the things she could do for a party. Pony riding! Zoo! Bowling! Trampolines!
Her imagination knows no bounds! But in the end, we- her parents- can decide on what from this long list would be doable (practically as well as financially) and no doubt she will be happy. All she really wants is presents, friends and fun.
Then I compare this to how I feel about my own birthday. I will be turning 40-something next week. I am not one of those people who shy away from becoming another year older. The number on the birthday card doesn’t bother me. The every-multiplying grey hairs along my temples do though 😉. And I will confess that I am vain enough to have my hair-colouring appointment booked for this week before the big day. I’m all for “the natural look”. But even I don’t want a birthday photo showing my smiling face framed by grey hairs 😉.
No. What I have difficulty in navigating is answering my family’s queries about gift ideas.
Of course my Hubby and kids want to do something nice for me for my birthday. My parents and siblings too. I sincerely would feel hurt if they didn’t. I know some families are cool with not giving each other birthday presents. But that’s not how I grew up nor want to be. To each his own, right? Not that I am expecting anything grandiose. No new diamond ring or a holiday in the Maldives. Just, you know, something that I would like.
Don’t you find, as you get older, that it gets harder to decide what you would like to receive? I don’t know about you, but my kids can open a Lego catalogue and point out about 50 sets that they dream about owning. Or walk into a store and find something in just about every aisle, from stickers to books to hair accessories to cars to water pistols to clothes. EVERYTHING looks amazing and “I really really really really please please please want that one!”.
I look around me in our home and think “Hmm, I really don’t know what I want. I have my camera. My computer. My sewing machine. Books. Chocolate. What else do I need?”. 2 things that pop into my head most frequently are: a massage and time. (Well, actually 3 things. I “forgot” to mention a chocolate birthday cake.) A voucher for a wonderful, rejuvenating massage is pretty easy to organise. But time? Not so easy.
What I REALLY wish is that there were more than 24 hours in a day so that I could achieve more of the things I desperately want to. Cliché, right? Not only cliché, but actually impossible. Unless one of you has a time-travel machine you want to lend me??? But even the less formidable wish of just having more time each week, or even monthly, uninterrupted, alone, requires a coordinated effort between Hubby, 3 children and perhaps even a genie in a lamp. It would be easier to just open a toy catalogue and point and every page and say “I want that. And that. And that. And that. And….”.
Do you follow my point here? So usually my reply when asked what present I would like for my birthday is “Um… a voucher?”.
And the 2nd thing I struggle to decide: To celebrate or not to celebrate. That is the question 😉.
Are you also someone who has a birthday close to (or on!) another special occasion or holiday? Someone in my family has a birthday on Christmas Day. A dear friend of mine was born on New Year’s Eve. (I don’t envy either of them!) And I have friends whose May birthdays, like mine, fall on Mother’s Day every few years (but not this year- Huzzah!).
What I have found, is that when your birthday is so close to one of these dates, or even ON a special day, the chances of rallying your friends around for a party or some form of celebration can get pretty slim. Because, of course, they all have their own plans or commitments and can’t join you.
**Fun Fact #2**: Did you know in Germany, it is considered bad luck to celebrate your birthday before the actual day? Not sure about where you live, but in Australia that is not the case and I have been to, or organised for myself, parties before the big day. (With no ensuing bad luck that I am aware of 😉.)
That all means you either celebrate with a diminished group of friends or you celebrate belatedly.
And naturally follows the question: To celebrate with friends? What type of celebration? Big raging party? Polite yet entertaining evening with cocktails and finger food? BBQ? Afternoon tea with coffee and cakes? Kids in attendance too? Like I said, kids birthdays are easier: “Party with your friends in the afternoon?”… “Yay!!”
Given that my birthday is now only days away, I think any sort of fancy, organised celebration is off the cards. But that’s OK. This year is not any special milestone birthday (like 21st, or 60th) so it’s not massively important for me to make a big deal out of it. Perhaps next year 😉.
I don’t know what this year’s upgrade in age has in store for me. But I will share with you a couple of my favourite birthday memories. A dress-up party for my 40th, with the theme “Bad Taste”. My, were there some awful 60s and 70s outfits and some seriously bad hair! … Getting my very own puppy for my 21st birthday from a group of friends… Receiving a flying lesson! Man that was fun, flying around over our town, trying to spot various landmarks and our own house! One of the coolest things I have ever done.
No matter my neurotic dilemmas of planning my birthday as an adult, I can honestly say that I have never had a bad birthday. I have been blessed enough to always have had people around who look out for me and bring a smile to my face 😊. *feeling grateful*
How do you like to celebrate your birthday? Or are you someone who likes to stick your head in the sand and stay eternally 21?!? Do you have a favourite memory from a birthday party? Or a particularly special present? Why don’t you share with us?
Love birthdays perhaps just to snuggle up in bed bit longer or get a cup of tea & the current book you are reading!
As for me with my birthday following fairly close after Christmas celebrations I do recall when younger that with a birthday right near Christmas & smack in the school holidays never worked out real well. Today though tis neither here nor there!
Exactly! Birthday + Christmas is a tough one. I DO like your idea of staying in bed longer and enjoying a good book!