Celebrating Birthdays

Whew! I just finished putting on a birthday party for a group of seven-year-old girls. It is the first of three parties this month, because ALL my daughters were born in October (and if you're about to suggest that I have one party for all three of them, I've already tried that route, and it didn't work).

But birthday parties at our house are pretty low-key. We limit how many children can come, and try to make as much as we can (which sometimes includes a pinata). This keeps parties from breaking our bank, but it does mean I spend the week before shopping, making, and baking, and the day of the party cleaning and preparing. Then, usually by the time the last of the guests leave, it is time to start dinner.

I remember my birthday parties as a child, but I don't remember seeing my mom clean and work to make the party a success. I'm sure that this is due to my lack of observation, not her lack of effort. She did all she could on her limited budget and in our limited space to make me feel special, and I can truly appreciate that now. I guess it's never too late to thank her!

I don't have any deep insight into birthdays, except to say that it should be a day of much celebration. Some people hide on their birthdays, or say that they don't like the attention (that was me some years back), and some people believe birthdays are just another day, but I say, "NO!" To celebrate a birthday is to celebrate the fact that God made you, in all perfection, at just the right time and place. It is giving thanks to God for this person in your life and how he/she has blessed you through their unique presence.

It doesn't take a bouncy castle, a gourmet spread, and a hundred (or even twenty!) people to celebrate a birthday. In our family, the birthday person chooses a favorite breakfast, lunch, and dinner, receives a small gift, and invites his/her closest friends over for a little cake. Sometimes, we even have ice cream. But what is most important is that the day does not go by without the birthday person hearing this: I am so glad you were born, and I thank God for making you just the way you are and putting you in our family!