I have had 36 birthdays but I can’t remember more than a few of the gifts my parents gave to me each year to celebrate the milestone.  Perhaps if you’d asked me to remember these things BEFORE I had children I may have been able to reel them all off.  But as every mother knows, with parenthood comes amnesia.
They gave me a alarm clock radio when I was about 12. I woke up as they were sneaking it into my bedroom sometime around midnight, and I remember having to pretend to be asleep, and to keep my excitement quietly to myself after they’d left. I really, really wanted a alarm clock radio that year, and when I finally fell asleep it was with a big grin on my face.

I remember my 18th - that was the year Dad bought me my first Swiss Army Knife. The year after I got a Gortex Jacket, you know, for going hiking.  Dad is very outdoorsey.  After that, Mum took over the gift purchasing responsibilities.  For my 21st I received a gorgeous gold locket. And for my 30th, they gave me a Wedgewood vase, and in the card Mum wrote something along the lines of “you’re old enough to have one of these now.”  So naturally I’m wondering what I’ll get for my 40th.  I just know I’ll be old enough for Tiffany.
Other than that, I have no memories at all of the gifts I received. Isn’t that terrible? I suppose at the time all my parents hoped for was that I would be happy with their choice (and grateful!). I don’t know if they asked themselves, when they picked out my eighth birthday present, whether or not I’d remember that particular gift for the rest of my life. Needless to say I didn’t. But I’m sure it was lovely, and I’m sure I would have said thank you.

Madeleine turns ten tomorrow. It’s the first of those milestones that I remember wondering about in the days after she was born. Wow, imagine what she’ll be like in a year? In ten years? When she’s off to college? Ten years. Crikey.

Just in case she forgets what she got for this birthday, we’ve got the present opening caught on video camera. And there’ll be an extra reminder from this year, a little birthday souvenir - we bought her a ticket to tomorrow night’s Harry Connick Jnr concert, and I got hold of a tour poster, and then I bought her a nice pen, and when we cash in the backstage passes his Manager bestowed upon us, she’ll (hopefully) get an autograph and maybe a “Happy 10th Birthday Madeleine, love Harry xxx.”  And yes, since you’re asking, she is a fan in her own right.  I put him on her iPod, but she’s the one that put him into her Favourites playlist.
So this should be a birthday to remember.  But if she ever forgets, I’ll happily remind her, because I’m planning to enjoy this concert at least as much as she is and I’ll remember every single detail. I’ll wait until she’s a little bit older, though, before I tell her how cute Harry’s butt is when you see it up close.

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