Today is my birthday! YAY! Cake! Streamers! Celebrate!

Although to be truthful, I’ve already been celebrating. For the past two weeks. Extra lunches out with friends. A new pair of shoes (so cute!). Longer hikes through the golden aspens (work can wait). Making cookies with my kids.

All because it’s my birthday.

I don’t need an excuse to do these things but during my birthday month I use all of life’s precious moments as another reason to celebrate. And celebrating ALL MONTH long has become my birthday tradition.

One of my beautiful friends says that celebrating that long is a “Libran thing.” Her husband is also an October baby and prolongs his birthday for weeks. I don’t know much about Zodiac signs but I do know I need at least a month and even an entire year to celebrate this glorious life in me and all around me.

Today my family will celebrate my birthday with our other birthday traditions:

• They hang streamers everywhere. Doorways. Kitchen. One special chair at the dining room table. It’s definitely a party day!
• I choose my favorite foods to eat that day. Chocolate chip cookies for breakfast? Done.
• No chores for the birthday celebrity. No dishes? Fabulous! I'm petitioning to implement this tradition all month.
• My birthday cake is adorned with candles- age plus one for good luck. BUT I also get to blow out a tall, happy birthday candle at EVERY meal. You can never have too many wishes.
• My family serenades me with an off-key, kooky, and very loud Happy Birthday song, always accompanied by an antique Swiss postal horn my hubby bought in Switzerland when he was 12.
• I interview our kids on their birthdays. Basics like their favorite foods and music. But also more philosophical like “List Three Words that Describe Me Right Now.” It’s so fun to see what changes year to year and I know it will be an amazing keepsake.

Someone asked why I don’t interview my husband and me? Good question! So I think today is a great day to start. Want to join me? Do it for your kids and for yourself! You can find inspiration at In the Mommy Business who asks the same 20 questions every year and compiles them in a book.  

Parents magazine recommends other traditions to add magic to birthdays; like a treasure hunt for gifts or covering the bedroom floor with balloons (Definitely doing this!) Creative with Kids suggests compliment time and a birthday crown (I personally wear a tiara on my birthday). 

It’s never too late to start your own birthday traditions. Every day deserves to have a little bit of special but especially the day we were given life. Traditions on your birthday or your children’s birthday or your husband’s birthday or your friend’s birthday will add sparkle and joy to their lives, and to yours!

I know that’s why I love to celebrate birthdays. Life’s just way more fun with a little bit of sparkle every day.

Do you have a birthday tradition? What’s your favorite way to celebrate your birthday?