Birthday Hell

The month of April is a field of landmines for birthdays in my circle of family and friends. At the beginning of the month, I literally have to make a list to ensure I don't forget who's having a birthday on which day. Some of the celebutantes will get a phone call or an email, some will get a card and others will get a gift, depending on how close the relationship is.

This brings me to my philosophy on birthdays, as callous as it may seem. To me, birthdays are not a big deal. Every person on the planet has one every year, unless they die of course, so really...what is the big deal? Outside of celebrating the day of someone who is really special to you, do we need to make a big fuss?

Now I have to scour my brain to think of something to buy for a couple of people, and I find that to be sheer torture. I had the same problem at Christmas, so I decided to make charitable donations in their honor and send them a card letting them know that a donation had been made to a children's hospital in their name. I thought that would be a great idea, since none of us needs anything anyway. I was so surprised when no one said a word about it to me! Not even an acknowledgement, or 'oh, good idea'. Silence. Crickets chirping. I found that to be very odd, really. If I had spent the money on something FOR THEM, they would have been thanking me for the gift. But since I tried to do something better with it, they didn't say a word. I've been scratching my head about that ever since.

Guess I won't be doing that for the birthday scene and instead will be pulling my hair out to find something for people who already have everything. Aargh.