When I was growing up, we did birthdays pretty big in my family, but not in the traditional sense. We didn’t have a ton of McDonald’s parties (though those were my favs) and I didn’t have a big Sweet Sixteen (cause my Dad bought me a car and my mom though that was enough!), but we did make sure everyone felt special on their big day. My mom would sing to us at whatever hour we were born, which in my case is around 3am. So for as far back as I can remember, my birthday’s were always ushered in to the sound of my mom singing Happy Birthday and my Dad usually clapping somewhere offbeat with his eyes closed.
The tradition morphed when my mother first became a grandmother, at least that’s when I think it started. She may have done the same for my brother and me and I just can’t recall. But right after my oldest nephew was born (the first grand) we had a birthday party for him in the hospital to celebrate being 1 day old. We had cupcakes and candles – the works. We also did it on his 1 month birthday and for every “major” first year milestone after that. 3 months, 6 months, you name it – we celebrated it.
On Roman’s 1-day birthday, we couldn’t do cupcakes, but Mom and I sang to him in his plastic crib at the hospital. But you can be sure that on his 1st month milestone, we broke out cupcakes, candles and cameras and celebrated his life. And now I understand exactly why my mother thought the need to have cake for her babies just about every 30 days. People probably think its silly, and Roman will likely recall nothing, but it reminded me that life sometimes goes by so fast that you don’t even get to recall the day before, and celebrating often lets us reflect on how special each day in the life of a child really is. Happy 1 month birthday, son. And many many more!
The tradition morphed when my mother first became a grandmother, at least that’s when I think it started. She may have done the same for my brother and me and I just can’t recall. But right after my oldest nephew was born (the first grand) we had a birthday party for him in the hospital to celebrate being 1 day old. We had cupcakes and candles – the works. We also did it on his 1 month birthday and for every “major” first year milestone after that. 3 months, 6 months, you name it – we celebrated it.
On Roman’s 1-day birthday, we couldn’t do cupcakes, but Mom and I sang to him in his plastic crib at the hospital. But you can be sure that on his 1st month milestone, we broke out cupcakes, candles and cameras and celebrated his life. And now I understand exactly why my mother thought the need to have cake for her babies just about every 30 days. People probably think its silly, and Roman will likely recall nothing, but it reminded me that life sometimes goes by so fast that you don’t even get to recall the day before, and celebrating often lets us reflect on how special each day in the life of a child really is. Happy 1 month birthday, son. And many many more!
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