I don't know if this is a general Cuban birthday custom or if it was just peculiar to our family, but on your birthday, you would display your opened gifts on your bed all day. I always liked that. You know, it made me feel special and celebrated and somehow made my birthday feel like an important milestone. Even if there was no party, seeing the gifts displayed together always gave me the feeling that today is something special. In fact, I continue to follow the tradition with my kids.
How it works is that on your birthday as you receive and open gifts, you immediately place them on your bed (which was beautifully and perfectly made, at least for this day!) in a wonderful display of abundance and celebration of your family's generosity. Isn't that cool? Plus it gave you a ready-made birthday show-and-tell venue which added a bit of theatricality to the day. "This is from …….."
I continued to enjoy the Birthday Bed Display myself until I got married. It's a little trickier because well (ahem) I share a bed now. But because I still like the tradition of keeping birthday gifts on display, I went with another option – the hutch.
Check out my birthday stash! (and guess who's going to be having an Andy Garcia/Ocean's 11, 12, & 13 film festival VERY soon, but that's not important right now. =D)
Anyway, except for the tulips (thanks, Michelle!) my birthday gifts are still on display on my hutch.
I know. I'm not being lazy or anything (which of course, is entirely possible, but not true in this case) it's just that I'm still trying to drag out this birthday celebration thing for the entire month…
…..which means I get to celebrate for one more day. 😉
in the pensiero house(s) …it’s catching on in all of them… we celebrate the actual birthday for an entire week. now I know you might mention that you’re holding on to yours for a MONTH, but hear me out: starting on whichever birthday-central day you choose, you enjoy gifts, niceties and preferential treatment for 7 full days. we’re talking presents. every day. for 7 days. and if you want it? cake too. every day. you choose dinner, you choose activities, you choose NOT to choose, if you so choose…and so forth.i say you give this a try in addition to your cuban tradition next year, you might find that you love it!
kelly-That is an absolutely BRILLIANT plan and I hereby proclaim that from this day forward that will be a new Darby Family Tradition.
(see how persuasive you are? =D)
I must add that as far as I have ever known, the rule is you celebrate your birthday for as many days as you are old. So when you turn 21, you celebrate for 3 weeks. 🙂
You don’t display your presents on your bed because you share it? Hmmm. You’re so left coast. Mrs. Gusano says its HER bed. (i was assigned a side 26 yrs ago). Lil miss Gusano gradutaed middle school and cleared the coffee table in the living room, put her grad cap in the middle, and made herself a shrine with all her presents and cards. I think its genetic.
c-f,I’m really liking your rule because that means I can start celebrating at the end of April and go straight on into June!
Or does the counting start on your actual birthday? Sigh. I LOVE Birthday Celebration rules, don’t you?? =D
Rei,
Gift Shrines For All Occasions! What will those Gusano women think of next? 😉
Happy Happy Birthday! I hope you continue to celebrate and remember how unbelievably amazing you are!!!