BIRTHDAYS
a cranky re-run from September 2014
On your birthday, people should remember their moms, but otherwise I don’t get it.
My ex-wives equate birthdays with love.
“You don’t even know your own kids birthdays!”
As if that is proof I don’t care about my children.
Yeah, and I don’t know my grandkids birthdays, I forget my parents birthday and I usually have to be reminded on my own birthday. Wives always know every birthday of anyone they ever met.
The lady step-crank has a birthday "week." It is one thing to treat people extra nice on their birthday, but a whole week? She will say, “You can’t do that, it’s my birthday week, you have to be nice to me.”
Ok, I know she is just joking, but she will still try and work it.
Women use the birthday as a test. Will he remember? They won’t give you a heads up except maybe a month early reminder, otherwise it is a test and you better remember. If you do something at the last minute, they will know and you will be called out on it.
I do remember birthdays as a kid. Up to the age of maybe ten it was still a big deal in my house; after that, not so much.
When you woke up on your birthday in my house, the presents were all magically waiting for you at the edge of your bed.
It was hard getting to sleep on your birthday eve.
On my fifth birthday, while we were at the dinner table mom had the radio tuned to the “Uncle Chucky Show.” Uncle Chucky used to read birthday greetings over the radio.
“And to Little Jody (long story, I hated that name) on your fifth birthday, check behind the couch for a surprise.”
It had to be me, how many Jody’s had a fifth birthday on my birthday?
Behind the couch was a record, “Bozo under the sea.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgJmBrW4D80
I loved that record. I never figured out how Uncle Chucky knew my birthday and how he got that record behind my couch.
Maybe that’s why I don’t make a big deal out of birthdays; nothing could ever top that Uncle Chucky surprise.
Anyway, to my two Cranks who were both born while Jerry Lewis was begging for dollars, it's a little late, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY*.
Oh yeah, check behind the couch.
Surprise!...Nothing…I still love you though.
*Actually, one was born on 9-4 and one on 9-5 so I remember the when, just not so good on the who.
And, Congratulations to my step-niece, Nicole, who just gave birth to a little boy Joseph Patrick on 9-4...not that I will remember.
Loved this post, it brought back so many memories of childhood. I'm lucky, my only son always remembers my birthday but these days I almost wish he would forget. Who needs reminding that they're getting older? Mind you if he did forget, I would be an unhappy mummy.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember birthday gifts as a child, we got a gift at Christmas, but I truly don't remember getting anything on a birthday. Maybe it was just clothing, so nothing fun worth remembering.
ReplyDeleteI love Uncle Chucky sending you behind the couch:)
Since i try to ignore my birthday (long story), i don’t much care that others don’t remember, either.
ReplyDeleteThese days, the kids just get a card with money in it, that’s what they prefer anyway.
I like birthdays, except my own.
ReplyDeleteIf I didn't carefully fill out my calendar each January with all the birthdays, anniversaries, dates that this and that happened on this day...that kind of stuff...I would never know when the special days were coming around.
ReplyDeleteThat's my system, too!!
DeleteHi, may I give you a tip, in order to be only slightly less confused? Six cardboard strips of 15 by 30 cm, with the names of each month and 28/30/31 lines will make a perpetual birthday calender.
DeleteAh, and I add the year it happened, so I know the person's age at once. Valuable knowledge, specially in the case of (small) children.
.-
Send out all the cards on 9-1 so you can be the first. Maybe have Google calendar send you a reminder or just go with what is working for you--if not the wives.
ReplyDeleteI have always hated my birthday, Dec. 4. Being so close to Christmas, it was a secondary thought. Plus my older brother's birthday was Jan. 13. We were 11 months apart. Every birthday, my father reminded the family that even though I was unwanted, they had decided that they liked me. He did this every single birthday, until I was almost 30 when I told him how hurtful that was.
ReplyDeleteYup. I hated my birthday then. But now my son was married on that day, on my 65th birthday. Now I appreciate how he loved me so much that he and Arlette scheduled their wedding for that day.
When our brats was little 'uns Queenie was dead-set on the week-long celebration which was enlightening, she and I had many difficulties our first couple years over her birthday celebration and it turned out Mum also pulled the over-done week-long celebrations for Queenie and siblings. Party at home, party at school, party at church, party with grandparents and maybe aunts and uncles. It was insanity and it took almost a decade to finally tone it down so our brats wouldn't have insane expectations when they came of age. Them was some tense years but I can tell Queenie still misses it when her birthday comes around. On the other hand, some years we don't even do mine and that's OK with me.
ReplyDeleteA little irony - 9/3 was when Patrick Joseph was born. He’s my eldest.
ReplyDeleteThere's no excuse for a man with a secretary ever to forget a birthday. Once you retire, though, you need an alternate plan. Hick made the mistake of letting that information slip, after ten years of me thinking he was so very thoughtful remembering birthdays and anniversaries.
ReplyDeleteGOOGLE Calendar will do the job.
ReplyDeleteI'll second the Google calendar. Mine's an Outlook calendar. Keeps track of everything.
ReplyDeleteI'll never forget my kids' birthdays. My second son was born on January 1 - he was the New Year's baby in the county where I lived at the time. Made the newspaper and everything. When we brought him home, my oldest son displayed the typical older child jealousies. He didn't feel as special, with his baby brother having been born on New Year's Day... Luckily, we remembered - and since that day, Flag Day is a HUGE holiday at our house. At least as HUGE as New Year's Day. Ha!