An amazing birthday with my family...
I always hated that my birthday was so close to Christmas. It felt like everything birthday related was diluted with holiday stuff (presents wrapped in snowman paper, gifts that were to be considered for both birthday and Christmas, a time too busy with Christmas parties for anyone to be available for a birthday party). Of course, looking back, I don't believe any one of those things ever actually happened, with the possible exception of the birthday/Christmas joint gift, and that would have meant it was something really huge. I don't doubt for a second that these were the thoughts of a selfish kid/teenager/young adult... it's unlikely that I actually suffered in any way because of my birthday's proximity to Christmas. Nevertheless, this was how I felt.
Fast forward 32 years... with a husband and young son, an Elf on the Shelf, a boat load of hidden presents in the basement, and a serious love of the holiday season... and I'm suddenly feeling like maybe this isn't so bad. Over the last few years I've started to tell myself that everything holiday related is actually about my birthday. I'd been seeing things the wrong way for so long and, now, I've suddenly got it right. It's not about Christmas... it's all about me.
Okay, so that's a little over the top, but nevertheless, just because it's decorated with ornaments and bows, doesn't make it any less special for me. If anything, I'm fortunate to have a birthday surrounded by glitter and lights and people everywhere wishing you 'happy holidays'... a birthday is like a holiday, right?
My husband and I spent the day before my birthday together... went to lunch, got a massage, drove around town singing Christmas carols and finishing our Christmas shopping. There wasn't anything about it that screamed 'birthday', but I loved spending my day with my husband... Christmas shopping isn't something we usually do together. It was about 'Christmas' but it was also about quality time together. I enjoyed every minute! And I really didn't mind his decision to give me my presents a day early... it doesn't hurt that my husband has impeccable taste in purses!
On my actual birthday I received flowers at work, very much a Christmas arrangement and somehow the most beautiful flowers I'd ever received. I was planning to cook dinner, but my husband ordered pizza... sure, he could have cooked, but instead we got to spend more time together because neither of us was stuck slaving over the stove or doing dishes afterward... it was a perfect dinner (and one we didn't have to battle our son over, making the meal so much more enjoyable). My son picked out a 'birthday' cake for me... a monstrous chocolate cake with chocolate frosting... with a Christmas tree on top. My husband says he was adamant about the cake... turns out he was super excited about the tree. And seeing it through my son's eyes, I was suddenly not at all concerned about the fact that Christmas had spilled over into my special day. I couldn't have picked a better birthday cake! Oh, and as if that wasn't enough, my husband bought me doughnuts... cream filled, frosted and with little Christmas tree sprinkles... not at all bothersome when I realized that my husband had managed to track down exactly what I'd told him earlier in the day I was craving. Makes a girl feel pretty special to know her husband understands exactly what she wants (in both purses and doughnuts!)
Turns out any day can be special when it's spent with the right people.
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