May marks the beginning of my birthday month.
HELLO, birthday month. When I mentioned this to my second graders, they were amazed that I had a whole birthday month when they only had one birthday day. They agreed that one day is never enough. Of course, I explained that I didn’t get gifts or parties every day…..but I made sure to plan fun activities and to treat myself nicely during my birthday month, sometimes even refusing to do do things that I didn’t enjoy. My students had many ideas of chores they’d refuse during their birthday month, along with a few foods they wouldn’t eat. Even without gifts every day, they were strongly in favor of the birthday month idea.
I can remember a time when I was excited about turning a year older, sometimes even including an extra “half” to my birth year. I think that stopped when I became 21. There were no other milestones in which to look forward. Surely not 30- definitely not 40. I refused to even think about 50! This year, I may subtract several “halves” from my birth year.
As this year will be the last in my ’40s, I could easily feel so depressed if I allow myself to think that more than half of my life is over. It’s all passed so quickly! Rather than focus on age, I’ve vowed to focus on how young I feel and I’ll probably focus a little on making an appointment for Botox and filler, too….
To give myself a little inspiration in planning this month, these are things that would be birthday month DO’s…..
A relaxing pedicure (one with wine)
A girls’ night out
I will get ready for a girls’ night out while sipping champagne
An adult beverage on my front porch with my sister
I will visit at least one new winery
I will take an over-night trip (with a delicious meal)
I will take golf card rides at dusk
I will watch a sunset
I will sip coffee one morning with my feet in the pool
And these are my (mostly wishful thinking) birthday month DONT’S…..
I will not scoop poop
I will not clean cat poop off of the floor
I will not scrub cat puke from the grout of my new tile floor
I will not fold clothes
I will not collect food bits from the sink drain
I will not struggle to hang up boat neck or one-shoulder tops
I will not pluck weeds from the middle of the rose bushes
I WILL NOT PAINT ONE MORE THING!
How do you feel about aging? Do you celebrate a birthday, a birthday week, or a whole birthday month? Please comment. I’d love to know!
