A Different Kind of Birthday

On Saturday, I celebrated my 24th birthday. This year's birthday was a different kind of birthday. Most years, as my family will attest to, I talk about my birthday for weeks (perhaps even months) before its arrival. I usually have a list of gifts I want, foods I would like to eat and activities I would like to do.

This year, however, something was different.

I didn't think about my birthday a whole lot.

I'm too busy thinking about someone else's birthday.

In fact, the Dude and I went to my hometown on Friday night to Saturday night to spend my birthday with my entire family and when I woke up Saturday morning it took me a while to even remember it was my birthday. It wasn't until Nana whispered something to Little H and he walked over to me and said something about "Birthday. Candles. Happy." that I remembered.

Historically, I have been known for nagging the Dude about my birthday for months in advance. The reason for this is because birthdays were not a big deal in his family but they were in mine. And, thus far, we have not found a happy medium. This year, in order to deter me from nagging him, he made a deal with me about a month ago that he would spend $100 on my birthday gift but every time I mentioned anything about it, he would knock $10 off. Totally unfair, right? Anyhow, I didn't talk about my birthday at all for the month - again, not necessarily because of his redonkulus deal, but more because I just wasn't even thinking about it. But, um, I think his deal was pointless anyway, since he didn't have a gift for me on Saturday. Way to go Dude.

I know that this year's birthday will be the last of its kind. From here on in, I will have a little person to think about on my birthday, as well. I can tell from the way I felt about my birthday this year, that things are changing - my identity is changing. It's not just about me anymore. It's about my baby. And that's okay. It will be fun to share a birthday month and I am looking forward to celebrating my 25th and my baby's 1st birthday next year. And maybe, just maybe, the Dude will even get me a gift.

***Update: Since I posted this this morning, I have recieved a number of hurtful comments (which have been deleted). You should know that the Dude's idea to knock $10 off my gift every time I mentioned it was a silly joke - it has nothing to do with his character or the quality of our marriage. And, he did not let my birthday go by unnoticed. He wanted to give me the choice of buying a GPS for our car or going shopping together post-baby for some new items for my wardrobe. If you read this post and got the impression that the Dude mistreats me, you obviously don't read my blog enough to know my writing style, humor, or the type of relationship we have. Maybe I should also let you know that one year for his birthday, I gave him a crepe pan (and nothing else) simply so that he could make crepes for me and my BFF. Do you think he should leave me because of that, too? If you are only here to search for ways to leave comments that are rude, disrespectful, and offensive to myself, my marriage, my husband, and my family, please don't bother coming back. A simple Happy Birthday would have sufficed.