wife, mother, ph.d. student, hot stuff.

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

A few thoughts now that I'm a quarter-century old....

Birthdays are strange beasts. As a kid, you get big parties with other little kids in attendance, cupcakes and sprinkles, loud games, etc etc. But what about now? I assume that my age equivalent would be a big drunken adult party. However, I don't know if I would enjoy that; it's hard to have fun while drunk when you also get a headache and want to puke after more than 1 drink. Watching other people act silly while drunk also gets old.

I digress. There's something to be said for being the center of attention, which is really the main point of a big party, at any age, for any occasion. The little kid with the crown blowing out birthday candles with everyone else watching. The bride in a big poofy white dress. You can do almost anything you want, and no one can say anything bad about it. After all, it's my party and I can cry if I want to, no?

But is that what everyone really wants for their birthday? Large events seem too fraught with responsibility for the guests. That's the last thing a birthday girl wants for her big day. People take the day off of work, sleep in late, and generally shirk responsibility on their birthdays, why would I want to worry if we have enough food for people, or about social niceties?

There's a point in here somewhere. But I am not sure where it went.

When all is said and done, I had a good birthday. My closest family (husband and brothers) and an observant waitress at Finale made sure that I was the center of attention for an evening. And I didn't have to worry about a thing.