Conspiracy Of Birthdays

I would like to know where the tradition of birthday parties started.

More specifically, the tradition of celebrating the person who did nothing but enter the world via the work of his or her mother.

Let me see if I have this straight.  The mother goes through nine months of pregnancy, goes through painful labor, and takes another few weeks to heal from the torture that has occurred to her body.  She then has to celebrate those memories each year by spending money on a party for her child.  She has to bake, clean, cook, plan, and put on her happiest face for her child on his or her "special day."  She watches her child have a great time, thanking all of his or her friends for their gifts, but never actually thanking the person who did all of the work.

Does that sound like a conspiracy to you?

I believe it is time for tradition to change.  When it is a child's birthday, all of the gifts and love should be showered on the mother.  Balloons should be replaced with flowers, cheesecake should be served instead of birthday cake, and pinatas should be filled with chocolates and spa coupons instead of candy and stickers.

If only this was true already.  I just celebrated all three of my children's birthdays this past week.  If it was all about the mom, I could be basking in some great gifts right now.  Perhaps instead of this look of exhaustion and defeat that has been on my face all week, I could have a radiant glow from a day at the spa.  Instead of still waiting for a thank you from any of my kids, I could be in a blissful mood from all of the kind words that were spoken to me on my special days.

Sadly, this tradition will never change.  For one thing, we moms are outnumbered.  Our kids will never go for it and something tells me that our husbands will not, either. 

Secondly, and most importantly, something happened at the birth of our children.  Seeing their joy became more important than our own happiness.  Watching them celebrate with their friends and family is like forgetting the pain of labor when we see their newborn faces.

Someday we will get our thank you.  You know, when our children become parents and realize what they just took for granted all of their lives.