8 Minute Memoir (Birthdays)
I forget where I saw the 8 Minute Memoir, but it seemed like a good writing exercise so I figured I’d jump on board. I’m incredibly behind and have no idea when/if I’ll finish it. Such suspense!
Birthdays were always a big deal in our house when I was growing up, but they were never a BIG deal. The day was very much about the birthday person, but it didn’t involve parades, crowns, or confetti (that’s a lie; occasionally there was confetti in a card and often there was confetti cake).
When it was your birthday, you got to choose what we had for dinner that night. I don’t mean you got to choose the restaurant; I mean you got to choose what my mom cooked. And honestly, that was just as special – maybe even more special – than getting to go to a restaurant. We also got to pick the flavor of our cake and icing (well, I did anyway; from what it sounds like, it’d be a real bummer to be born the day before/after your sister and have to agree on a cake flavor every year), sit awkwardly as everyone sang Happy Birthday and watched you crack under the pressure of blowing out all the candles, open a handful of birthday presents, and not have to do the dishes even if it was your night (<– this was a very big deal). Compared to birthday celebrations I’ve heard about and see plastered all over Facebook and Instagram, our birthdays were incredibly lame, but I will straight up fight you if you tell me that.
I love the way our birthdays were. So much so that I’ve continued these traditions with my own little family. It’s not the easiest because Jesse’s birthday is Valentine’s Day and he likes to repeatedly tell me how I shouldn’t have to cook on Valentine’s Day blah blah blah, but honestly I could not care less about Valentine’s Day and would much rather make the day about his birthday. (One year I was so hell bent on proving this point that I made him breakfast, muffins, AND dinner on his birthday. . .and then the next year he was back to his usual “my birthday’s not a big deal” nonsense.) He also has a tendency to like to go big or go home so when Boogser’s birthday comes around, he’s pretty sure we should take him to get tots even though it would be way easier and more enjoyable to just make him some tots at home. But ultimately he’s with me that while your birthday should be a big deal, it shouldn’t be a My Sweet Sixteen big deal so it looks like Boogser’s also in for a lifetime of low key special birthdays. Just the way I like it.
Soybeans, Too 