Who doesn't love birthdays?! Seriously, it's all about partying, celebrating, eating cake (and plenty of it), enjoying company, and being the center of attention one day a year. What's not to love about that
As a kid, Birthdays meant business...fun business. Saying that it's your birthday trumped everything. You knew you could use that saying the whole day to get whatever you wanted so yes, birthdays were a big deal. Besides being able to live like king/queen for a day, you were also finally getting older, being the big kid, able to do more.
You are getting old enough to achieve things you could not do when you were not old enough. For example, starting school at age five for the first time, going into high school at age fourteen, or getting your license at age sixteen. There are so many things to look forward to as a child growing up and our birthdays symbolized it all.
But we're not kids anymore and whoever thought growing up would be a good idea is sorely wrong.
When I was a kid, my parents scheduled surprise parties, took me to dinner, and let me pick out my birthday presents. But now, if you want a party to celebrate your special day, your mom can't plan it for you at the snap of her fingers anymore. Did your mom ever make you a boss ass lunch to bring to school with the writing Happy Birthday which was also packed with TWO desserts? That won't happen ever again.
Sure, being older you could pack yourself two desserts or even 10 damn candy bars in honor of your birthday but let's be honest, it's just not the same. Remember coming to school and EVERYONE wishes you happy birthday...friends, teachers, your crush, the bus driver, people you don't even know? It's a good feeling! But you're an adult now, and you're lucky if anyone even remembers your birthday without Facebook reminding them.
Getting older, age just becomes a number, and birthdays are just another average day in the life. I just wonder where all the excitement escaped to and when birthdays lost their uniqueness.
My birthday is in August, so as a child my friends and I would either be in school that day or we would be enjoying the last few days of summer vacation by going out to eat or shopping yet that was really special to me. But the inevitable happened and the start of adulting was there before I knew it, college. Half of my friends already moved away before my birthday came around, so not only was this birthday less enjoyable as they used to be but it also set a somber tone for birthdays to come.
Becoming one year older is hard. You have to learn to be on your own, support yourself and learn things you probably would not expect to have to know yet. Birthdays might not be as exciting as they once were when we were children, but it is one more year we got to spend with the people we care about and love.
Every year, I get to look back on all the important and exciting things that happened with that year from my previous birthday. I look forward to my birthday, as I get to experience these feelings all over again.
