Courtney S. Barr

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Wednesday, December 2, 2009

2009 Birthday Week - The Husband

For my readers who don't know, my husband's birthday is in December. Now this year he plans to curl up into a fetal position, suck his thumb, and randomly scream words like "Why God?!! Why?!! We had a deal!! Let the others grow old! Not me!!"

Yes he has decided that on the 8th he will merely turn 29 and 365 days old. Yep and when he reaches 40 he will actually be turning 30. Yes Yes lunacy is one of the reasons I married him, keeps my days interesting.

Anyway... If you were not a follower last year or the year before you may not be familiar with a tradition of ours: Birthday Week. We feel that since our mothers carried us for 9 months enjoying the fun wonders of pregnancy (you can tell I don't have kids) we should get more than one day to celebrate. So we created Birthday Week. Yep 7 days of fun. Now in a relationship this can be tricky. You see the rules are as follows:

1. Birthday-ee can decide what day the week begins so long as somewhere in the seven days his/her actual birthday occurs.
2. During the 7 days, the Birthday-ee does not have to partake in any household chores. NONE.
3. During the 7 days, the Birthday-ee may choose any meal they would like to have. ANY Meal. The Non-Birthday-ee must then make, pick up or go with the Birthday-ee in order to insure they get what they want.
4. During the 7 days, gifts will be given each day. These gifts can range from the unexpected simplicity of doing something for the Birthday-ee that normally would not be done or it can be extravagant.
5. During the 7 days, the Birthday-ee has full control of the television channel selection.
6. During the 7 days, the Birthday-ee can do whatever they want. i.e. sit around, nap, eat, shop, whatever. (the only stipulation here of course is any activity that could damage the marriage - course if you damage the marriage you lose birthday week anyway, sooooo.....yeah)
7. During the 7 days, the Non-Birthday-ee cannot complain about having to do any of the chores, activities without help.

So that is what we do. You must remember that when it is your birthday all of this applies to you, so the last rule is very important. Because if you do complain or make the birthday week difficult the previous Birthday-ee has the right to reciprocate. *yikes*

December is a crazy month for Birthday week, but it also makes it fun. I get to make cookies for Christmas tins & for Marcus. I cook because I love too and he chooses his favorite things which always make me smile. They are typically recipes that my mother taught me and the fact that they are some of his favorites is a compliment to heritage not just product quality.

With the big 30 this year, I am trying to pull out all the stops for each day. We have had an interesting year so I will have to get creative on a few things, but overall starting on Friday 12-4-09 we begin this year's Birthday Week.

So all of this was explained, not just because I like to share with all of you, but because I need a little help. #4 talks of the daily gifts. I need some new creative gift ideas. Like, in the past I have done the love coupons (ladies give these an expiration date or fine print - trust me on this), bought some DVDs and I have done things like wash/clean his car, etc. I need some new ideas or inspiration; plus it is always fun to hear about the kind things we do for those we love! Okay, so let me know of some things your loved ones have done for you or maybe something you plan to do this holiday season.

13 comments:

  1. Aw, I love this idea!! Personally, I celebrate the entire month of September as "Saradise"... But I've never thought about doing a week in March for my husband! It was his 30th last year - I threw a surprise party...

    If your husband loves his car the way mine does - you could think about getting him all weather floor mats? (Nelson just got them and is soooooooo happy with them!)

    What about a puppy? (okay, far fetched, but still - who doesn't love a puppy... or even better a KITTEN!)

    A weekend excusion at a future date? (Doesn't have to be pricey, something within driving distance.) You could create a really pretty ticket and give it to him with the date of the reservation.

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  2. Way coool idea!
    I've never done this before. You're very creative.

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  3. lol I love SARADISE!!! Funny you call it that: mine is CourtneyPalooza!

    As for the puppy - my Peanut would be UPSET. (he gets birthday week too) But I still like the idea.

    I love the idea of the weekend getaway voucher! Perfect!

    thanks for the suggestions!!!

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  4. Thanks JuJu!

    It really is fun! Birthdays are always an experience around our house ;o)

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  5. My husband once sent me on a scavenger hunt around town to all of our favorite places. He was just ahead of me, leaving gifts, and then I would show up and find a gift and instructions to the next place. Partway through, he sent me to a lunch spot, and then we were off scavenging again. It was tons of fun, I felt special, and it didn't cost him too much because they were all fun gifts (like chocolate or Kahlua!)

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  6. Shannon O' - I love the scavenger hunt idea!! That could be loads of fun! yay! So excited for all these ideas ;o)

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  7. DITTO! I love Shannon's scavenger hunt idea. *YOINK* (That's the sound of me stealing it)

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  8. Steal away, girls - it's one of the best things my hubby's done. (second to my surprise trip to see Barry Manilow, of course!)

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  9. My husband does great anniversary cards (which always makes me feel like crap because I always alway ALWAYS forget to get him a card). He always picks a theme and then writes the sweetest things (simultaneously making me love him and hate myself for not being equally romantic.) Last year it was sock monkeys. He got me a sock monkey card and a sock monkey bookmark and had a sock monkey sitting on the bed holding it all (in addition to the rest of my gift). Very sweet.

    I'm also a big fan of Shannon Days, where the whole world gets to revolve around me. Those are cool.

    And then there's always Monica's solution: I will cook anything you want in there. And I will do anything you want in there. ;)

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  10. OMG that is the swetest thing Ive ever heard. When I get married, I totally want to steal this idea. Happy Birthday to Mr. Princess Courtney:-)

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  11. Shannon M - lol I love the Monica reference (that is a great episode: I Love YOU Chandler Bing! *inJanice'snasalvoice*) That is so sweet of your husband! Aww...

    Frankie - Thanks! We enjoy it, plus I mean come on, it is fun to really pamper someone you love so it is worth it for sure. Steal away! Thanks, I know he will have a great birthday!

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  12. Ooh, I love the idea of birthday week! Happy birthday to your husband!

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  13. Thank you Sarah! He is so torn with it being 30! lol He loves Birthday Week but this one is hard... ;0)

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