Happy Birthday Husband!

Yesterday we celebrated my darling husband’s birthday. Every year, I try to make a big deal of his birthday, and make him feel special, because it wasn’t always that way. In many ways, he had a not-so-great childhood. His parent’s divorced when he was young, and it was really ugly. He didn’t have contact with his dad for over 10 years, and living with his mom was not easy. When we started dating when he was 16; We threw him a birthday party and it was the first one he could remember having. So each year, I try to make sure he knows exactly what a big deal we think he really is.

This year things were a bit different. Mostly because I literally thought his birthday fell on a Sunday, and told everyone so. Saturday afternoon the girls and I baked him brownies to eat the following day. Turns out his birthday was Monday, and so including going to kid-free dinner Friday night, he had a four-day long celebration of sorts. Our four-year old also just started First Tee Golf and does “ballet” on Monday’s, so it was a busy day that we ended in Mexican food.

When it comes to buying him gifts, in many ways he is easy to shop for. I feel like I try to pay extra attention to things he has mentioned or things he might possibly want or need.  I can pretty much always think of some sort of gadget that he “needs” and if he hasn’t already purchased it for himself than birthday shopping is easy peasey. This year, since we’ve been trying to focus on our budget, I had to keep that in mind when figuring out what to get him. My husband always says “My favorite time of day is when my head hits the pillow and I’m going to bed.” He loves sleep, but it doesn’t come easy.  I figured the best gift I could get him was a “good night’s sleep.”

You know you’re in your thirties when not only doesn’t this sound like a good gift to give, but a good gift to receive. First, my husband is obsessed with the Pacific Coast Down Surround Pillow; my mom has them at her house and he threatens to steal it every time we go. Next, I was recently listening to the Tim Ferris Podcast, with Aubrey Marcus, and they discussed this Melatonin Spray, which has since sold out on Amazon, but is available on the Onnit website. I am very apprehensive about the use of melatonin for sleep; however, anything in moderation. Finally, I got him Four Sigmatic Reishi Mushroom Elixir. I also heard of this on a Tim Ferriss Podcast. This is actually a special formula he worked with them on. It definitely has an “earthy,” slightly bitter taste, but he chugged it, took some Magnesium and headed to bed.

And guess what, last night he slept great! Sleep is one of those things in life that you don’t really put much thought into until you really don’t sleep well. I’ve been doing a lot of research over the last few months on sleep hygiene, and perhaps in the future I’ll create a whole list of my favorite sleep hygiene techniques. Until then, Happy Birthday my Darling, and sweet dreams!