My Mom Thinks I'm the Best Birthday Present (Spoiler Alert: She's Right)

At a glance

Here's what to expect:

• My birthday is almost here — January 29 — and I share it with someone SUPER important to me!
• I was born 12+ hours late. 👉👈
• Happy birthday mom! 🎂

I share a birthday with the most important person in the world.

In four days, I will turn 24 years old.

January 29th has always been a special day in our family.

Not only because it's (apparently) National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, National Freethinkers Day — or Oprah's birthday.

But it's also my mom's birthday.

That's right: we share the same birthday.

Almost 24 years ago, my mom reported to the hospital bright and early on the morning of her birthday at 7 A.M.

Then, nearly 13 hours later, at 7:38 P.M., I entered the world.

(I was late to my birth, and people have told me I'd be late to my funeral.)

Anyways, this year I'm turning 24, and my mom is turning — (just kidding. 😂)

In honor of our birthday, I Googled "What are the chances of having the same birthday as your parent," and the results were pretty underwhelming.

I thought it would be one of those crazy-low probabilities like getting struck by lightning (~1 in 15,300 chance) or winning the lottery (~1 in 300,000,000 chance).

I guess I overcomplicated it in my head, lol.

It's just 1 in 365.

I guess that makes sense.

In any case, I've never met anyone who shares a birthday with either of their parents.

My mom and I have spent 23 birthdays together, and I wanted to reflect on these (almost) 24 short years together!

Here it goes.

From as early as I can remember, my mom has said that I was the best gift she'd ever received from God on her birthday.

Inversely, I feel strongly about saying she was the best gift I have ever received on my birthday!

She has been my caretaker, educator, mentor, and biggest cheerleader my entire life, and she's also the kindest and most empathetic person I've ever met. Seriously.

I can't help but remember all the times she went above and beyond to ensure my sister and I had everything we needed and wanted.

And I also can't help but remember the many times she's inspired me to pursue my Dreams.

One of her most prominent beliefs as a parent is that, besides providing the basics to survive (e.g., food, water, shelter, etc.), her biggest responsibility is showing my sister and me the world of opportunity that's ours for the taking.

Growing up, we spent hours upon hours at the library or Barnes & Noble, delving into thousands of books and exploring our interests in whatever we were curious about at the time.

My mom was the first to do a Google search if we ever had questions or research topics we wanted to explore.

Her not knowing something was never a good excuse for shutting down dialogue or learning.

I'm convinced many of my research skills today came from my mom and I's countless rabbit holes in my life's (very) early years.

For instance, I explicitly recall my mom and I studying global warming when I was ~eight.

We checked out books from the Fort Worth library and found websites covering the devastating consequences of global warming.

I then went to school and continued these academic conversations with my teachers.

It was these rabbit holes that established my insatiable love of learning.

Another unique characteristic of my mom's parenting style is how she treated us like adults very early on.

She purposefully never talked to us with a "babyish" tone; instead, she had adult-like conversations with my sister and me, which I'm convinced strengthened our communication skills.

If we were trying to touch an electrical outlet, instead of simply yelling at us not to touch it, she'd walk us through why electrical outlets can be dangerous and why we have to be cautious around them.

While this seems inherently tiny (and perhaps a waste of time) at the moment, this is everything for a child whose mind is sponge-like.

We were never "kids" in my mom's eyes. Instead, we'd often talk about her experiences growing up, philosophical topics, and other adult-like conversations.

She was always so transparent and never held back.

She'd tell us about things she did as a kid — the good, the bad, and everything in between — to share her lessons and inspire us to improve.

This close bond and trust that she majoritively built over my entire childhood is everything to me!

My mom always has been and always will be my best friend!

(And I'd rate her parenting a 5/5 stars on Yelp.)

Mom, if you're reading this (and you should be), I love you so much — and I hope you have the best birthday ever! 🎂