Life Down Under

Ready for a very special birthday

It's another one of those after-11 o'clock-nights. Those seem to be more of a common occurrence around here recently. I must admit that I am a night owl....but since our daughter is definitely a morning bird, well, late nights aren't as forgiving as they used to be.

Tonight's late night is for good reason, though. With tomorrow being Taylor's birthday and all, there was a wee bit of decorating needing to be done around here. And a cake that needed to be baked. So the moon and stars are now hung, the streamers and balloons taped to the wall and to the light fixture in the center of the room, balloons precariously tied to the high chair, and presents on the coffee table. Yes, presents on the coffee table.

You see, Aaron and I had this discovery the other day - hard to believe it was the first time in almost 5 years of marriage that this topic came up - but apparently the Walsh and Warren family birthday traditions were quite different when we were growing up. In the Walsh family, presents were always opened in the morning on birthdays. In the Warren family, presents were always opened in the evening, after dinner, along with cake and ice cream. It was one of those stereotypical "first-year-of-marriage discoveries".....neither one of us could imagine changing the tradition and doing it differently in our own family. I guess it's one of those things where you want your children to have the same great memories you had when you were a kid growing up.....so it feels like things have to be done the same way. So we reached a compromise....half the presents in the morning for Taylor, the other half in the evening. Works for me. Who knows....maybe I'll discover that there's something really special about doing it in the morning. But for now, the compromise wins. Good thing Taylor is too little to know the difference! :-)

Anyways, can't wait to see Taylor's face in the morning when she sees the living room all decorated. That will make the late night worth it.

So.....just out of curiosity.....what are the birthday traditions in your families?