Why I Am Not Having a 40th Birthday

See, I gave my birthday away almost ten years ago, just a few minutes after I turned 30.  I had been in and out of labor the past five days, and when they checked me earlier at my appointment that day I was already 5 cm dilated.  I went in, they broke my water and two and a half hours later I had this amazing baby boy.  He will be ten this year, and is probably the best birthday gift I ever got, even if he is one of those high maintenance, expensive presents.

Now, this year I was kind of worried K was going to do something silly.  He has a rather onery sense of humor sometimes, and I was worried there might be black balloons and streamers at an inopportune moment.  Lucky for me, though, K is NOT a birthday person.  In fact, he admitted to me that more than once he's completely forgotten his birthday until a few days later. 

Over the Labor Day weekend my ex's oldest son (I call him my oldest still, but he isn't mine and no longer lives with me - I don't want to confuse ya'lls) came to visit with us.  He was wearing the shorts from a girls' volleyball uniform that the school he goes to had discarded.  He told me no one had bought him school clothes in years (the last time I bought them before his dad said that teenage boys need more guidance and stricter rules than I had and took him.  Since he wasn't mine, I had no right to complain - I CHECKED).  Anyhow... here he is, it's his senior year, and he's pretty much getting his clothing out of dumpsters.  His father actually has been known to "borrow" his kids' birthday money, allowance, etc., and never return it.  Apparently he still doesn't have any budgetary skills.

This broke my heart.  He is a GOOD kid.  He lettered in football and basketball, writes on the school paper, and went to state chorus last year.  He's respectful, kind to others and just an overall real sweetheart.  I couldn't let him run around in shorts with holes in them, especially in Missouri winters. 

So I went to K and told him all I wanted for my birthday was clothes for my non-son.  I put some of my leftover tax refund money into the pot, and K just a little more than matched it, and we took him shopping with $220.

It's something that brings tears to your eyes when you catch a seventeen-year-old boy hugging a pair of adidas running shoes. 

It's a relief, and it's a bittersweet joy in a way.  I've had my birthday early, and it was an awesome gift.  Thank God K's cheap...

... no black balloons for me!