Today was definitely not my best day. Physically, it was kind of a mess, and mentally it wasn’t much better. I went to school like normal, but around lunchtime my stomach started hurting. At first I thought it was just a stomachache and would probably go away, so I asked a teacher if I could go to the nurse. When I got there, there were already about four people standing outside the nurse’s office. The nurse came out and basically asked who needed her the most. I told her my stomach really hurt, so she let me come in with another student.
Then I went to the bathroom and threw up. Definitely not one of my favorite experiences. Whenever I vomit, I don’t know why, but it feels like I’m somehow trying to spit out an entire pig. Not a little bit of food, an entire pig. Afterward, I told the nurse what happened, and she basically told me to flush it. So I did. Not gonna lie, this nurse is not exactly my favorite nurse. In my imagination, nurses are supposed to be kind, patient, and reassuring. The nurse we had before was really nice. Maybe she was almost too nice, you could have a tiny cut and practically get sent home. I’m not saying that was necessarily a good thing, but at least she always asked questions and made you feel like she cared.
Today’s nurse felt more like the opposite kind, the kind who seems to say, “You’re going to be fine. Now go back to class.” Except this time I had actually vomited, so she told me that I couldn’t come back to school for 24 hours. Boom. No school tomorrow. At first, the pressure hit pretty hard because I really didn’t want to miss the next project we were doing. There are actually things happening at school that I want to be there for. On the other hand, I’m not exactly going to complain about missing some homework either, so I guess I’m somewhere between disappointed and kind of fine.
My birthday is also coming up, which somehow got me thinking about birthday presents. My mom usually doesn’t throw me a huge birthday party. I know, very depressing. Instead, she normally just asks me what I actually want and gets it for me. There obviously isn’t some unlimited budget where I can suddenly ask for a Lamborghini and a Bugatti not that I care about cars anyway but usually I can choose something reasonable, maybe a few hundred dollars, and that becomes my birthday present. Honestly, I think this system is pretty good.
I’ve seen what happens to some of my friends when parents try to surprise them. One of my friends desperately wanted a new PS5. On his birthday, he opened his present and discovered a book about the history of PlayStation. His mom was basically like, “You said you liked PlayStation. This is educational.” He just stood there absolutely fuming. Another friend, Tyler, wanted cash. I don’t even know what he planned to do with it, but instead he got a pencil case and basically every piece of school equipment a human being could possibly need. Useful? Sure. On his birthday wish list? Absolutely not.
That’s why I don’t really understand the whole system where parents guess what their kids want. Why guess? Give the kid a budget, let the kid choose something, buy it, and you’re done. Smooth, efficient, no emotional damage. The only downside is that I don’t get that dramatic moment where I unwrap something and have absolutely no idea what’s inside. But honestly, I can live with that.
I’m also not really the kind of kid who dreams about giant birthday parties anymore. Birthday parties can get weird. Imagine opening presents while twenty kids stare at everything you just got. Then your parents say, “You should share your new PS5!” So you say sure, go outside for a while, come back, and somehow your brand-new stuff has turned into an art project. There are stickers on things, your controller is greasy, something has a mysterious stain on it, and nobody knows what happened. Then you confront your friend and your mom says, “It’s your birthday. Be nice.” So instead of having a birthday, you’re suddenly receiving a lesson about generosity. Then you secretly promise yourself that when you go to his birthday party, you’re going to ruin one of his presents too, and the whole cycle continues forever.
No thank you. I think I’d rather just get one present I actually want, keep it in good condition, and move on with my life. So that was basically my day: I went to school, threw up, got banned from school for 24 hours, worried about missing a project, and somehow ended the day thinking about the philosophy of birthday presents. Pretty normal day, I guess.
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