age is of no importance unless you are a cheese

I'm definitely not a cheese. But this pretty much sums up the way I'm feeling this year about my birthday.

Somebody actually got themselves a birthday cheese instead of a cake. I think that's a brilliant idea! I love cheese.

Every other year of my life, my birthday has been a big event. As a young girl, I begged and pestered my parents  so much about planning my birthday party that they had to create a rule that I couldn't start talking about it until a month before. It was always a big deal to choose a theme, pick the invitations, and have multiple celebrations with my friends and family. It was a time when all attention was on me, when I got to use the special day to get my way (not because I was spoiled (even though I probably was), but because it was just part of the day. my sister got her way on her birthday too).

As I got older I stopped having parties, but I still had special family dinners and sometimes my friends would take me out to dinner. The last several years these events have grown smaller and smaller, but I'm not disappointed by that. I'm not really a big party person, and I'd rather be with a smaller group than a large crowd at a nightclub.

This year though, I've surprised even myself. As the clock ticks closer to the big day, my excitement just hasn't kicked in. Now it's practically here - tomorrow, actually - I'm having a difficult time even caring. I haven't made any plans and I haven't asked for anything. I made a point of not mentioning it at work in hopes that the day would pass without any fanfare, but some of the girls found out anyway. Hopefully they don't do anything too crazy. The hubs mentioned that he has something planned for next weekend, but I don't know what it is & I haven't asked or pestered him about the surprise.

I told my mom not to get me anything this year. Do you think she listened? Of course not. I got a big package from her in the mail a few days ago. But that's what moms are for!

I guess as I get older, my priorities have become clearer. The things that mattered to me once, like attention and opening gifts, don't seem that important now. I'd rather just spend the day with the people that are most important to me - unfortunately I can't even do that this year since my sister lives in Maryland now and my mom is up North for her brother in laws funeral. I'll be happy to spend some special time with DH and Will though.

Also, now that I'm a mom, I'm finding that I'd rather focus my attention on Will. I love looking at the world through his eyes, and planning things for him (like birthday parties) will allow us to give him the kind of birthday experience I always had. I shouldn't have all the attention anymore, and I'm OK with that. I don't need it.