It’s my birthday
There’s a bouncy castle waiting for me
It’s my birthday today. I am 28 years old. Birthdays aren’t what they used to be, are they? I’m going for dinner but otherwise haven’t got anything planned for the day. It’s just a day like any other. Like the one yesterday was and the one tomorrow will be. But the memory of childhood birthdays linger within me. They’ve set the precedent and made me feel like it should always be a special day full of magic and wonder. So although I might be 28, I’m going to pretend I’m actually a child and relive an imagined birthday.
You’re 6 years old today. You’ve been awake since 5:59am because you couldn’t contain your excitement. It’s all you’ve been able to think about for weeks. You kindly waited a whole 18 minutes before diving into your parent’s room to wake them up. Now you’re downstairs, sitting on the sofa eating Cheerios. The Hoobs is on TV. Your eyes are distracted by the big bunch of presents stacked up next to the coffee table. You’re not allowed to open anything until later when everyone else is awake and Grandma comes over. You’re praying in one of the boxes is a Barbie Dreamhouse. (It is).
Later today you’re having a birthday party at the sports hall round the corner. You’ve invited everyone from your class. Yesterday, you brought in a massive multipack bag of Haribo to school, so that you stand by the door at home time and give a packet to everyone as they left to go home.
You have your outfit planned. Bootcut jeans with silver sequin patterns sewn on and a baby pink top with flowers on the front. You’re finally allowed to wear the new trainers your mum bought for you last weekend. They’re bright and shiny white with sections of pink and purple sparkles. When you run, they light up and flash with red lights under your feet. Your mum has put your hair up into two French braids, tied up with your favourite butterfly bobbles.
When you finally arrive at the sports hall in the afternoon, it’s like a wonderland of your dreams. There’s a huge bouncy castle and games set up everywhere. Your mum says you have to wait until your friends arrive to start playing. You scowl at her a little bit. But then as people start to arrive, everyone is happy to see you and has a gift in their hands. You gratefully accept and hand them all straight to your mum, who says you’ve been spoilt rotten as she places each one in a pile.
After an hour of running around, jumping the highest you could and playing you are slick with sweat and ravenous. You’re at the front of the queue, because it’s your birthday, and your mum hands you a paper plate. Your eyes light up at the buffet laid out in front of you. You start with some sandwiches, one cheese and one marmite. Both are cut up into little bite-sized triangles. Then you pick up some crisps. There are big bowls full of all your favourite flavours. There are sausage rolls, scotch eggs and cocktail sausages. You haven’t even reached the sweet stuff yet. You can see party rings, jammy dodgers and jam tarts. Chocolate crispy cakes, flapjacks and mini rolls. At the very end of the table is a big birthday cake. It’s two-tiered with pink icing and covered in glitter fairies.
Once your belly is full, it’s time for dancing. Who Let The Dogs Out, followed by Can’t Get You Out Of My Head and Hey! Baby kick things off and get everyone on the floor. You recently learnt how to cartwheel and you’ve managed to throw a couple in to impress everyone.
As everyone leaves, you say goodbye and thank you for coming. You’ll see them at school on Monday. You hand each person a party bag filled with a piece of your fairy cake, a Chupa Chups lolly, a balloon, some stickers and a party blower.
The rest of the day is calm. You have a bath, put on a pair of new pyjamas with a ladybird pattern that you got today and watch Monsters Inc. You eat some more birthday cake. Eventually, you can’t keep your eyes open any longer and you’re taken upstairs to bed. Your dad reads you a bedtime story, something about a princess but you’re already asleep after the second page. You sleep soundlessly feeling so incredibly loved.