Yesterday was my sister’s birthday and I know that April 20th is her birthday. On Saturday I asked my husband to remind me on Sunday to call her or email her to wish her a happy birthday. Luckily for me my sister isn’t into mailing out birthday cards so both of us are fine with emails or phone calls. I knew all day yesterday was her birthday yet I didn’t end up calling her or emailing her.
I kind of tricked myself into thinking I didn’t need to write down her birthday or set up a reminder. The thing is that I don’t forget people’s birthdays. I am great about remembering people’s birthdays and can tell you the birthdays of people I haven’t talked to in over 10 years. What does challenge me is taking the next step and wishing somebody a happy birthday.
When I woke up this morning I emailed my sister an email wishing her a happy birthday. I’m sure she won’t be upset that I sent it this morning instead of yesterday. But, I think from now on setting up reminders about people’s birthdays might be helpful to me. I also think I need to remind myself to take action not just that it is somebody’s birthday.
So instead of writing down "Amy’s Birthday", I could write down "Call Amy and wish her a happy birthday". Having the phone number written down or in a reminder I’m sure would also be quite helpful to me too. Wow, that seems so simple too! Too bad I didn’t think of it on Saturday….lol
5 replies to "Forgetting Birthdays?"
Sounds like your support system failed. I think you should fire your husband.
I have a mental block about my Dad’s birthday. It’s on August 3. But I keep thinking it’s really August 5. Every year, I tell myself, “Now, don’t get it mixed up.” And I do.
Last year, my Dad was upset that none of his children called him on his birthday. My Mom said, “Oh, Madrisa will call you on the 5th.” And I did.
Another year, my sisters were with me in another city when August 4 rolled around. Sister 3 suddenly shrieked, “We missed Dad’s birthday!”
So we made up an impromptu funny song about how very terribly sorry we were and what awful daughters we were. He loved the song! It made up for missing the day.
Madrisa
P.S. I suspect my sisters might also have some level of ADD.
Here’s a tool, and a Dutch tradition, that has helped me in the past: a birthday calendar. It has dates but no days of the week, so you can reuse it every year… and put people’s birthdays in. I like to put their year of birth in too so I can always figure out how old they’re turning (if they want you to know!)
Hang it in the bathroom, you’ll see it often…
Becca
http://www.thinkythink.com
…nice blog …
:)))
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my blog
http://gewinnen-sie.blogspot.com/
I’m shocking with birthdays 🙁