Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Happy Birthday to me, I embrace the day with glee, It is a beautiful day to look at mountains, I cannot wait to go see.
I sure hope age 51 is much better for me than age 50. Last year at this time I was 13 pounds lighter, seven skin wounds more plentiful, and I was miserable every single day. My quality of life was a four on a good day. Today I am still fighting the nasty virus making the rounds in Colorado Springs, however I do feel better than I did a week ago.
I am not a big birthday person. I did not grow up celebrating holidays and other than Halloween and Black Friday, I simply do not get the point. Birthdays are for kids; I am an adult. I do not need gifts. I do not see the point of giving adults birthday gifts anymore. I have not given my adult son, Marcus, a Christmas or birthday gift for many years. I think his dad may still give him cash for Christmas, but Marcus is an adult; we did our job of raising him into a good person. He can provide for himself.
I am okay with gifts for baby showers, weddings, or other change of life events. I would rather my $50 check went towards paying for something useful instead of a $3,000 wedding dress, but that is your business. I do not get the whole “big” wedding thing either (courthouse bride).
Gifts for kids are a whole other matter. I love to see the excitement on kid’s faces when they get gifts. I confess, I am starting to give money rather than gifts to kids. My seven-year-old, Mika, has way more toys than she needs and most of her friends are the same. I have a typical middle-class family. We live in a modest home in a neighborhood we could not afford to move into today.
When our children wanted toys, clothes, activities and etcetera, we could usually provide them. I came from a poor family and have worked for pay since I was ten years old and had a paper route. My significant other, Donald, was raised by his mother mostly on her own and he also had to work hard to get “extras”. We like making life easier for our children.
Those extras are taking over our house. A friend of mine quit giving her kids things when her youngest was approximately ten years old. She gave her kids experiences like photography lessons instead. I really like that idea. I do not give Mika a birthday gift because I pay for her party. I did the same for her brother and sister. I do give Mika Christmas presents. I usually give her two from me, Santa brings her four or five, and Santa Dad will usually toss in a couple (or six or seven) of last-minute impulse purchases. Add in relatives and family friends and the toys start to stack up.
When I get a birthday party invitation and look at Mika’s toys, I think of those other toy-cluttered homes my friends are tired of and put some money in an envelope. I do usually give a small toy, so the child still gets excited to open a gift, but the real gift is cash. Mika actually likes to get money, so she gets just as excited to open a card with cash or a gift card as she does when she opens a toy.
My piece of advice to you is to not think every birthday needs to be a big deal. Today is my birthday and I am going to take a nap. The combination of cold and chemo are kicking my butt today. I have 364 other days I get to celebrate this year. I am sure I am going to feel better for at least 300 of them.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.
Happy Birthday to me, I embrace the day with glee, It is a beautiful day to look at mountains, I cannot wait to go see.
I sure hope age 51 is much better for me than age 50. Last year at this time I was 13 pounds lighter, seven skin wounds more plentiful, and I was miserable every single day. My quality of life was a four on a good day. Today I am still fighting the nasty virus making the rounds in Colorado Springs, however I do feel better than I did a week ago.
I am not a big birthday person. I did not grow up celebrating holidays and other than Halloween and Black Friday, I simply do not get the point. Birthdays are for kids; I am an adult. I do not need gifts. I do not see the point of giving adults birthday gifts anymore. I have not given my adult son, Marcus, a Christmas or birthday gift for many years. I think his dad may still give him cash for Christmas, but Marcus is an adult; we did our job of raising him into a good person. He can provide for himself.
I am okay with gifts for baby showers, weddings, or other change of life events. I would rather my $50 check went towards paying for something useful instead of a $3,000 wedding dress, but that is your business. I do not get the whole “big” wedding thing either (courthouse bride).
Gifts for kids are a whole other matter. I love to see the excitement on kid’s faces when they get gifts. I confess, I am starting to give money rather than gifts to kids. My seven-year-old, Mika, has way more toys than she needs and most of her friends are the same. I have a typical middle-class family. We live in a modest home in a neighborhood we could not afford to move into today.
When our children wanted toys, clothes, activities and etcetera, we could usually provide them. I came from a poor family and have worked for pay since I was ten years old and had a paper route. My significant other, Donald, was raised by his mother mostly on her own and he also had to work hard to get “extras”. We like making life easier for our children.
Those extras are taking over our house. A friend of mine quit giving her kids things when her youngest was approximately ten years old. She gave her kids experiences like photography lessons instead. I really like that idea. I do not give Mika a birthday gift because I pay for her party. I did the same for her brother and sister. I do give Mika Christmas presents. I usually give her two from me, Santa brings her four or five, and Santa Dad will usually toss in a couple (or six or seven) of last-minute impulse purchases. Add in relatives and family friends and the toys start to stack up.
When I get a birthday party invitation and look at Mika’s toys, I think of those other toy-cluttered homes my friends are tired of and put some money in an envelope. I do usually give a small toy, so the child still gets excited to open a gift, but the real gift is cash. Mika actually likes to get money, so she gets just as excited to open a card with cash or a gift card as she does when she opens a toy.
My piece of advice to you is to not think every birthday needs to be a big deal. Today is my birthday and I am going to take a nap. The combination of cold and chemo are kicking my butt today. I have 364 other days I get to celebrate this year. I am sure I am going to feel better for at least 300 of them.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.