Well, I’ve had 42 birthdays so far, and a lot of them kind of run together.
For some reason, one birthday kind of has a bookmark in it for no particular reason.
I was maybe 8-10 years old, and I remember getting a Strawberry Shortcake toy (Maple Stirrup and the Oatsmobile, which now apparently sells for hundreds of dollars new in the package on eBay!)
And on that same birthday I got a My Little Pony with a special tail.
If you pulled on the tail, it got longer, and if you wanted the tail short again, you just rotated the head back and forth and the tail magically became shorter and shorter.
I have always thought that would be a handy feature for people, because then you could switch between hairstyles so quickly!
And as Zoe has been growing out her pixie lately, she has more than once said she wished her hair was like this pony’s tail.
I still have this pony in our box of My Little Ponies, and it never fails to be the favorite of little girl visitors.
I think on this particular birthday, we went to a park of some sort. And for some reason, I had opened my presents in the morning rather than at night, and on the way to the park, I remember just feeling very happy.
It was beautiful weather, it was my birthday, and I had two really good new toys. What more could you ask for?
I have had 73 birthdays (!), but the one that I think of most often is my 5th, when I was given a small ballet shoe suitcaseful of peppermint gum and a little , yellow piggybank with starter dimes. Five was a beautiful age for me.
Thank you for your blogs, Kristen.
My husband shocked me with a professional portrait of my mother. He also gave one to my sister, her children, and our children. My mother was in her 90’s and had not had a professional portrait since her 20’s. My Mom died a few years later so I really treasure this beautiful picture of my beautiful Mom. My husband turned in vacation hours to pay for this gift and it was a total surprise. Naturally I cried.
Not a birthday but a Christmas. I dont remember the age but I no longer believed in Santa. My mom told since I was a big girl now I could help her wrap presents for my little brothers. I felt so special
I remember, but not the age, when I got to help wrap presents and put them out late. Loved this!
My birthday is two days after Christmas, and thus tends to get lost in the holiday shuffle. Last year, though, my parents sent me some cash for my birthday that I didn’t have any particular plan for. Then, over the Christmas break from school, I went to a hotel in a (somewhat) nearby city for one night by myself–my husband’s gift to me, at my suggestion :-)–and they had these punched tin mirrors with colorful tiles all around the border from Mexico that I loved. And the price for one was exactly the same amount my parents had given me. I never buy things like that, but I took it as a sign and bought it. It makes me happy every time I see it.
My favourite was a puppy when I was 12. She was not a surprise; I chose her from the shelter about ten days before my birthday. She was a black Cockapoo I named -Abby. I still miss her!
One birthday we got to go to my grandparents’ cabin in Chili, Idaho. I LOVED that place! The Lost River ran past the bunk house about 200 yards away and we loved to wade in a little pool by the shore. I was about 10, I think. My grandmother baked my birthday cake in the cast iron, wood-fueled stove/oven. While putting dinner on the table, she mumbled something about losing her hot pad. After dinner, she placed the delicious 2-layer cake on the table and proceeded to cut the cake, but the knife wouldn’t go through the 2nd layer. She unknowingly left the hot pad between the layers. What a good laugh we all had!
I was working in a large office years ago and for my birthday my husband hired a quartet to come to my job, sing me a love song (My Cup Runneth Over With Love), and give me a giant sized bar of my favorite Cadbury’s double milk chocolate (which at that time you could not get in the U.S., so he had thought far enough ahead to order it form England). He is much more romantic and creative than I am.
The one that sticks out to me is when my (now) husband and I were dating and he took me to Disney Princesses on Ice. I loved Disney. I loved ice skating. It was amazing. I wore a tiara. 🙂 Most people were there with their little girls, but I was so happy that he was willing to take me.
Gail, your lovely description of your five year old birthday present made me tear up. What a wonderful gift.
Years ago, close to my birthday, my husband and I went to a collie breeder “just to look.” Good thing that he had brought cash because of course we were to come home with a puppy! We went to the backyard and all of the puppies came tumbling out to greet us. Our girl kept coming by me despite being knocked over by her larger brother. I scooped her up and that was it. She was such a wonderful dog.
Kristen, I know someone who is a sibling to the creator of Strawberry Shortcake! 🙂