Today is Sara’s birthday.

It’s kind of funny when you have kids, because birthdays are such a big deal to them and involve a lot of hoopla, but when you get to your own birthday it’s just sort of “meh”. You still have to go to work, or watch the kids, or cook, or do laundry, or whatever. It’s basically a regular day, except for the 10 minutes or so when you open a present or eat cake. I think it’s basically the same for people who don’t have kids (after all, it’s just a birthday — everybody has them!), but they don’t have the contrast of just completing a full-featured kids birthday party.

So even though perhaps today wasn’t much of a special day, I think birthdays are still a good time to reflect on your life. Since it’s not my birthday I will try to leave the reflection to her and refrain from putting words in her mouth. But I will say that every year she seems to get better in every way: wiser, more attractive, more confident, fitter, happier. I don’t know where exactly she expected to be at this point in her life, but speaking for myself, I really never imagined life would be so good by now. Hopefully she feels the same. On the other hand, I’m married to her, and she’s married to me, so, you know, her opinion may differ.

In any case, happy birthday babe. May you enjoy the best present possible: the kids start school in less than 2 weeks.