Birthdays

Funny how birthdays change so much. I turned 34 yesterday and really enjoyed myself. We kept it quiet and had a nice dinner out with a few good friends at one of my favorite restaurants. My son couldn't get over that this was a fun time for me. You see he's 5. To him birthdays are all about cake, games, and presents. The more you play, the better time it is. I remember that. I remember my mom creating all sorts of games for us to play in the basement, complete with prizes. I remember the lists of presents that I wanted most of all. When you are little birthdays are very important. They are one day that is all and completely about you. In fact I remember every time it was the 13th of another month, I would do the math to figure out exactly how far away my birthday was.
As I got a little older, birthdays became an excuse for a mass sleepover. Of course what teenie bopper girls don't think about before hand is that a group of girls full of hormones, chocolate and lack of sleep is a disaster waiting to happen - friendship fights galore. Yet the idea always seemed good at the time.
College birthdays pretty much had a set pattern too. You'd get all prettied up to go out with a group of friends who would procede to make sure you never had a moment without a drink in hand (you'll have to forgive me if my memories are a little shaky on the details of those birthdays).
Now, I really am happy to just have a little bit of grown up time with a few good friends. I don't have mass lists of present ideas because I really don't need anything (another thing my son can't get over). It's not a big deal, it's just a nice evening out.