Birthdays!
At the risk of sounding ungrateful, I’m less fond each year of the gravitation of birthday wishes to social media. Yes, they’re more abundant. They can also feel less genuine.
Last year, in a bit of self-centered pandemic panic before my birthday, I initiated a card “contest.” I asked friends to craft birthday greetings, made entirely of things around the house; only stamps were allowed for purchase. Of course, this was a ploy to get heaps of birthday mail, and it worked.
Neighbor Diane’s 3-D birthday card included a giant birthday cookie. Win!
I received greetings on cleverly overlapping post-it notes, an old cardboard CD case, and a single-serving cereal box. Neighbors went 3-D, filling latex gloves with colorful tissue paper and creating googly-eyed creatures. (I’ve not yet aged out of finding great joy in googly eyes.)
It’s easy for my birthday to feel not so special, because it lands in a 12-day stretch that contains 9 of the 10 most common birth dates in the US - between September 9th and 20th. (Insert the holiday party joke of your choice here.) Even though my completely self-serving “contest” was of my own doing, I felt quite special.
My sweet friend Amy contributed an ornament for the birthday card contest winner. You can find more of her amazing creations on Zoo and Roo.
Besides getting out your unused office supplies and remnants of dated technology, how do you make your loved ones feel really loved on their birthdays? A few ideas:
Highlight the best stuff from the past year. The best stuff might not be great stuff. That’s ok; this past one was a banner year for almost no one. Try to dig up a good thing or two.
Tell them what you hope for them in the coming year. If you know them well, be specific. (A new adventure! A winning lottery ticket! A full night's sleep from their newborn! )
If you can't be together, share how you'd celebrate if you were there - or share how you're celebrating from afar. Perhaps you treated yourself to a cupcake with your morning coffee. I fully endorse that strategy.
Reminisce about a way you’ve celebrated together in the past. Include a coupon for an equally fun celebration for a future birthday.
Copy a poem or quote that makes you think of them.
Send a birthday postcard subscription! (Here I go, being self-serving again.) Let them know that you want updates on their lives, because they’re just so important to you.
Happy birthday to all my fellow September babies! I wish you many smiles, good times, and piles of incoming mail this year.