Birthday Traditions

Today is my Half-Birthday!

It’s also my husband’s Actual Birthday!

It’s a fun coincidence we’ve always enjoyed since we first met eleven years ago.

He’s not one to make a fuss over his birthday. “It’s just another day,” he says every time I try to bring up making special plans to celebrate. I’m not very consistent when it comes to birthday celebrations- some years I go all out and have amazing inspiration for a unique trip or activity (like last year I took him to a black light splatter paint room) but other years I keep it simple with small gifts, dinner reservations and, of course, a birthday cake.

Birthday cakes growing up for me were a big deal. My mother made the most amazing cakes. Amazing, as in, character molds and intricate decorations. I don’t remember many birthday gifts from over the years but boy oh boy do I remember the cakes! (Ok, confession: I don’t remember the panda cake, I just happen to have an amazing photograph of it- it was my first birthday, after all.)

I feel a little sting of guilt that I didn’t carry on the tradition of amazing cakes for my kids’ birthdays over the last twenty years. Not to say there haven’t been some great looking store-bought cakes placed in front of my kids over the years, or that I don’t do something to make their day super special, but still. I try to remind myself that sometimes less is more. Sometimes it’s the littlest things that can make someone feel truly special.

What birthday tradition do you remember from your childhood? What traditions do you have now with your own kids/family?

Anyway, Happy Birthday to my dear husband and Happy Half Birthday to me!