Birthdays are Special to the Birth Parents

I guess it never occurred to me before yesterday that birthdays are special not only to the one who was born, but to the parents who facilitated the birth. So much emphasis, by everyone in our society, is given to the one who was born, by throwing parties, giving gifts and overall making it a special day for them, that the real heroes of that special birthday have been lost. The birth parents are really the ones that had a remarkable day that is worth celebrating. The birth changed their lives forever. Maybe that is worth celebrating more than just being born.

Parents today have a choice if they want their children born. They could decide they don't want the interruption, can't afford a child, or don't want to rearrange their lives for the next twenty years to facilitate the raising. If something is worth celebrating it is the commitment and sacrifice on the part of the parents, especially the mother, to provide everything that is necessary to the newborn, to put them in an environment in which they are raised to become a functioning adult. And the day it started is worth at the very least a mention.

The child who was born, should more than anyone else, recognize how special birthdays are to the parents and make sure others know what was really done special on that day. I am not advocating that we should abandon our practice of making it a special day for the one who was born. I am promoting the idea that some recognition should go to the parents. It is a birthday for them too.

This is not a message to our kids specifically. They acknowledge and honor us for our part in their birth and for that I are grateful. This is a message to us all. Birthdays should be more than a selfish celebration for the one who received life and more of a grateful honor to the ones who provided life.

Thank you mom and dad for all that you did for me.