Fondness For Birthday Balloons

I always seem to buy birthday balloons for people.  I think that I do it because it makes people smile. 

I started doing this when I was a teenager.  At the high school I attended, it was customary for the popular girls to have a bouquet of birthday balloons delivered to them on their birthdays.

My best friend has a January birthday.  When she turned sixteen, I bought her a bouquet of birthday balloons. 

She carried them around all day.  She told me years later that she felt very special that I had done that for her. 

She was a little shy and I was glad that the attention wasn’t too much.

I bought birthday balloons for my boyfriend’s son’s third birthday.  I realized at the last minute that I was the one responsible for his birthday party.  We made hotdogs and a chocolate cake.  I decorated the den with birthday balloons and everyone had a great time.

Last year, my stepson started birthday invitations that request no gifts. 

I have a hard time sending my son to parties empty handed.  I decided that only two ways around the no gift request is to bring birthday balloons or cookies.

In addition to always having birthday balloons, my stepson also has sugar cookies on his birthday. 

I started using number shaped cookie cutters on his third birthday to cut out 3s for him to have.  This became a yearly tradition.  I think I look forward to it as much as he does.  This year I get to make 9s.

Birthday balloons are best if they are the regular colored balloons.  I don’t mind one of the silver mylar balloons in a bouquet, but having a bunch of them is really tacky. 

I also think that birthday balloons should be bought in multiple colors.  Every color in the rainbow is my choice every time.