birthdays are a little strange…

Post-kid birthdays are a little strange.

Before we had kids, birthdays were different. Yeah, I had to go to work, but I could maybe take a long lunch and someone would bring in cake. Evenings were quiet; maybe we would go out to dinner or see a movie. But now, with all the “stuff” that fills my day, it’s hard to make birthdays relaxing. The kids still need to be fed, picked up from school, snuggled with, read to, put to bed, and cleaned up after the day is done. Then everyone asks you, “Did you have a good birthday?”, and I’m not sure what to say, because most of the day resembles an ordinary day.

Except…the day ended happily with the kids singing Happy Birthday to me while I ate freshly grilled steak that I didn’t have to cook. That was the best part…

Post-Facebook birthdays are also a little strange.

On my birthday, I received quite a few birthday greetings on my Facebook timeline. It was great to see them pop in all day, but I was surprised by the variety of people who actually took a few seconds out of their day to type “Happy Birthday” to me. People I went to elementary and high school with, people from my parent’s church, college friends, old co-workers, new friends, old friends, former students, former bosses…plenty of people I would have never imagined hearing from on my birthday. I hardly remember to say Happy Birthday to my family, let alone someone I haven’t seen in five (or more) years! Does this mean I’m on the hook to wish them a FB birthday back?

Not sure, but it did made me think about the changes in how we stay in touch. I know some people are anti-social media, saying that relationships lack depth as a result, but I firmly believe the positives outweigh the negatives. With all the mobility in today’s society – where we live, work, go to church, etc – it is a good thing to be able to maintain relationships that otherwise would have gone dormant. I also love the little sneak peaks into people’s lives (not stalking!!) that help me feel connected to them…especially when I realize we are going through the same stuff. There is solidarity in numbers, right? And I can’t begin to tell you the number of times that something I have written on Facebook or on my blog that has sparked conversation with a friend or family member later on that we would have never talked about otherwise.

Wow. Major rabbit trail. Get back on track, Rachel.

Post-30 birthdays are strange too.

When I was a kid, I always looked forward to birthdays. I was always younger than my classmates, so I felt like I was always trying to catch up. Looking forward to being old enough to get my ears pierced…old enough to get a job…old enough to get my license. Now I’m not so excited about turning a year older, and I don’t even know when it all shifted. Instead of feeling young and excited, I feel old and panicky, stressing about what I’m going to accomplish before I’m 40…40!?!? What in the world makes that exciting?

Scarcity mentality all the way. So, I’m 34. That means I have six whole years before I even turn 40. Plenty of time to figure out what I am going to do “next” with my life. I suppose my “stress” comes from worrying that I won’t be intentional, and I’ll “squander my days” instead. As much as I hate them (and I don’t quite know why), I suppose I need to pull out a few goal planning worksheets.

Strange…maybe. But I’m also confident that God has amazing things in store for year 34…