I’ve never understood why people don’t like their birthdays. Of course it’s difficult getting older, and I guess some people don’t want a reminder that another year has passed. But birthdays are the only day of the year devoted to you. So why not embrace it and celebrate it?Birthdays have always been a big deal for me. As a kid we always celebrated birthdays, and when I started my own family we continued the birthday celebration tradition. Cakes, decorations, presents, meals, birthday outings, and often birthday weekends, or even weeks, characterize birthdays in my family.Seventeen months ago I experienced one of the most special feelings of my life on my birthday. When I saw tonight’s Blogapalooz-hour challenge—“Write about a time somebody made you feel special"—I almost immediately knew what I’d write about.Birthday celebrations aren’t just kids stuff in my family. It’s a bigger deal for the kids, but we’ve always made sure that mom and dad get to celebrate, too.And one of the presents I received on that particular birthday, was a small book from my kids. It’s titled What I Love About Dad. (I got a little choked up just writing that title.)
It’s a little book with one hundred pages. On one side of the page is a number, and on the other side of the page is a pre-written prompt that my children then filled in with their own thought, and signed their name.So there are things like “I love how you ______ every day.” And my son Brian filled in, “say goodnight.”Or “I love that you taught me to appreciate ______.” And my other son, Ben, filled in, “nature.”And my daughter Ellie filled in the prompt, “Your hugs are always _____” with the word “cuddleish.”Emily, my oldest daughter, chipped in, too. She completed “I love getting your advice on ____” with “music.”I could have written this morning’s Blogapalooz-hour post about this book, because I definitely have an emotional attachment to it.I love every present my kids have ever bought for me. I’m a t-shirt guy and they’ve given me so many awesome t-shirts that I’ve lost count. They’ve also given me some pretty fantastic kitchen gadgets over the years. And their handmade cards are always a highlight.But the fifty responses in this book provide an insight into how they think about me that makes it one of the most special things I’ve ever received. Once you know that the word your then-four-year-old daughter would use to describe you is “Prince” what more can you ask for?Or if your oldest daughter realizes that you take pleasure in not wasting things, then you realize that some of the little lessons you’ve tried to teach their entire lives have actually taken hold.We try very hard to make our kids feel special. It doesn’t take much most of the time. Some one-on-one attention, acknowledgment of a job well done, an unexpected little treat. All of those things help my kids realize that they’re not just kids. They’re MY kids. Not in a possessive way, but in a unique way. There are billions of other kids in the world, but there are no kids just like them. And I don’t think we can underestimate the importance of making our kids understand that.Then if we’re being honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that even though we’re the parents, and it’s in our nature to put our children before ourselves (if we’re good parents, that is), it feels pretty damn good when we’re made to feel special, too.There are billions of dads in the world, but Emily, Ben, Brian and Ellie have just one dad: me. And even though I’ve felt special many times, I’ll never forget that birthday last spring—it was a Monday—when a little tiny book reminded me how special they think I am.Enter your e-mail address below and we'll send new Dry it in the Water posts directly to your inbox!
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