Author: Jenn Goddu

Jenn Goddu http://www.birthdayarebest.com I am a writer, editor, and writing coach who also blogs about birthdays!

Best of January Birthdays?

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There’s a lot of complaining about December birthdays. I have two friends born on December 25th, another December 23rd, and my husband’s is December 30th. They all have bemoaned the sharing of their birthday with Christmas. Even my mother, a December 16th child, has talked about having birthday presents combined with Christmas presents, which according to at least one web critic is a big no-no.

Yet, I wonder if people who have January birthdays could be worse off? I’m an October baby (as faithful readers well know by now). So, I don’t have personal experience with this.

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Only it seems to me that January babies could encounter the following:

  • Gift givers being plain tuckered out with shopping.
  • Bank accounts are especially strained after the holidays.
  • Re-gifted gifts. (So, I didn’t like it under the tree, but it’s perfect for you!).*

Of course, I’m not going to feel too badly for the January baby. After all, there are studies showing the many advantages that come from being born at the start of the year. I wrote about what Malcolm Gladwell said about this just last month.

Still, I don’t want to squash the enthusiasm of any January babies. So, I’ll end off with this list of special things about this birth month courtesy of American Greetings:

  • January is home of several awesome national monthly observances, including National Hobby Month, National Blood Donor Month, National Book Month, and National Thank You Month.
  • January is a month of extremes! It is the coldest month in the northern hemisphere and the hottest month in the southern hemisphere.
  • Your birthstone is the garnet, which represents purity, truth and friendship.
  • The flowers of January are the snowdrop and the carnation.

Oh, OK, one more downside from a Pinterest posting to consider:

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*Re-gifting is not one of the birthday taboos I wrote about previously. Maybe it should have been.

Happy Birthday Officially!

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Happy Birthday 2016!

Well before I stayed up late and drank too much bubbly at 2016’s birthday bash last night, I started thinking of all the birthdays that we’ve turned into holidays.

This is one of the best kinds of birthday. Someone else’s birthday is so special we get a day off from work? Yes please! It’s one reason we love celebrating the birth of our countries too. There’s Bastille Day July 14 in France whereas China takes a week off in October to mark its National Day.

But, let’s see what famous folk merit a government-acknowledged holiday to commemorate their birth:

  • Martin Luther King Day, celebrated in the United States since 1983, is on the third Monday of January to mark Dr. King’s birthday January 15 — although this holiday is meant to be commemorated with service.
  • President’s Day is the third Monday in February. Although it started out marking George Washington’s Feb 22 birth, the day now marks all U.S. presidents’ birthdays (though history.com, reports some states do still mark Lincoln or Washington individually).
  • Victoria Day in Canada celebrates Queen Victoria born May 24. The day is officially recognized with the Monday preceding May 25 off. That’s why it’s popularly known as May 2-4 weekend (for all the people who head to the cottage with a 2-4 of beer —Even though Victoria would surely not approve!).
  • Australia marks the Queen’s birthday the same Monday in May, but New Zealanders wait until June 1 (probably since that’s closer to Elizabeth’s birthday).
  • Queen Elizabeth is feted June 9 in England, although her birthday is actually April 21 (the two birthdays for reigning monarchs is quite common apparently).

Oh, and October 6 is a work holiday at my house for the awesomeness that is me, but I’ve yet to persuade others to join me.

What officially-recognized government-sanctioned birthdays did I miss? Let me know! I’d love to add to this list.

 

 

Heal Heartbreak with a Birthday.

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Birthday generosity

Photo credit: volp91w / Foter.com / CC BY-ND

#bdaygenerosity is one of my favorite hashtags to use on my twitter account. I love seeing the ways in which people use birthdays to do nice things for others.

I’ve written about passing on birthday kindness before, of course. I love non-profits that work to give children birthday parties. I’ve written before about Birthday Blessings and others, but here’s a story about another one in Texas — The Birthday Party Project — and its efforts also in Minneapolis.

Here are some other great examples:

  • A nine-year-old girl hosting a food drive for her birthday told an Orlando TV station, “I like helping people more than I like getting stuff…I like making people happy.”
  • Siblings in New York invited 100 folks to their birthday, asking them to bring bread and deli meat instead of gifts, and together the party made more than 900 sandwiches to take to an Albany homeless shelter.
  • A woman who hosts CPR training parties for her birthday after her life was saved by an MLB umpire at an Arizona Diamondbacks game.

The Global Poverty Project contrasted the extravagance of Kylie Jenner’s 2015 birthday celebrations with the selflessness of Nobel Peace Prize-winning education activist Malala Yousafzai who marked her 18th birthday by opening a school for Syrian refugees.

Instead of having a lavish party, she spent the day in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley at a school intended to help 200 girls gain baccalaureate and vocational degrees.

“I am honored to mark my 18th birthday with the brave and inspiring girls of Syria.” Malala said in a statement. “On this day, I have a message for the leaders of this country, this region and the world – you are failing the Syrian people, especially Syria’s children. This is a heartbreaking tragedy – the world’s worst refugee crisis in decades.”

Using a birthday to fight heartbreak? That’s truly something to celebrate.

 

Birthday generosity

Author: United Nations Photo / photo on flickr

Bad at Sports? Blame Your Birthday

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I was voted most accident prone in my graduating high school class. Although I’ve played soccer most of my life, and did play basketball on my middle school team, I’m not the best athlete. I had always thought my lack of grace was to blame.

However, it may just be my birthday!

 

Turns out those of us born September – December are at a disadvantage when it comes to playing sports.

Sports Birthday

Photo credit: William & Mary Photos / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

In a New York magazine article about Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers) and his views on success, I learned about “what academics call the relative-age effect, by which an initial advantage attributable to age gets turned into a more profound advantage over time.”

He makes the case with hockey players, but I’ve also seen it argued with Australian Premiere League rugby players. The idea is that those with a January 1 eligibility cutoff in sports, those that have a birthday earlier in the month are more likely to reap the benefits of higher-level play.

For instance, a hockey player born in February will be playing alongside kids born in April and August. Well, the earlier born kid is likely to have more maturity (Gladwell mentions physical, but emotional could help too). So the January baby gets recruited  for an all-star team which leads to more practice, better coaching, and tougher games. By the time the kids are older, the January baby has an advantage over the October kid who was less mature when those choices were made.

Gladwell suggests, according to the same article, “elementary and middle schools put students with January through April birthdays in one class, the May through August birthdays in another, and those with September through December in a third, in order ‘to level the playing field for those who—through no fault of their own—have been dealt a big disadvantage.’”

That would mean a lot more shared class birthday parties — in those schools at least that allow birthday parties these days.

Birthday Sports

Photo credit: Graceful Cake Creations / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

Birthday Party Trouble

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There are several reasons a birthday could lead to trouble. Let’s think of a few:

  • Party is too loud.
  • Underage drinking.
  • Drinking and driving.
  • Stolen presents.
  • Over-the-top antics prompted by too much birthday fun.
  • Rioting when your birthday invitation goes viral (yep, that happened).
  • Pulling out a gun when people don’t sing your girlfriend happy birthday (yep, that happened too).
  • Celebrating your birthday with a dozen or so friends in an Irish pub.

Uhm? What?! Yep, that last one happened in Tajikistan this year, and the birthday boy was fined the equivalent of four months pay!

According to The Daily Mail (Kate Pickles reporting – tee hee — Pickles), it’s against the law in Tajikistan to celebrate your birthday outside of the home with more than family. The law was passed in 2007 to prevent excess spending.

Birthday boy Isayev Amirbek, who was aware of the law, thought he was OK to gather his friends for his 25th, as he and his friends simply brought a cake and spent approximately 540 somoni between them (that’s under $100US). Yet he was fined 4,000 somoni (roughly $640US) for his audacity.

Amirbek claimed at first it was just a friend’s night out, but in court prosecutors proved he’d broken the law against celebrating his birthday in public using photographs of the birthday cake posted on Facebook.

Pickles reported the law limits the number of guests, how much money can be spent and the duration of a gathering. Apparently the law was violated 394 times in 2014!

I can maybe see the point of banning lavish birthday extravaganzas in a struggling economy (although think of all the people hired to make the party possible). Yet getting your friends together at a pub and giving each a piece of cake is a preposterous reason to take someone to court! Surely there has to be a better way to spend the time and energy of police, lawyers and court officials than pooh-poohing someone’s birthday fun.

Birthday Party

Photo credit: / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

Happy Me-being-nice-to-me Day!

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I had an epiphany recently when a friend told me she’d made the argument to her daughter’s father that “birthdays are for kids.” She was certain I’d disagree. Of course I do. But I kept thinking about why.

Am I just a crazy attention-hog to enjoy my birthday so much? Perhaps, yes. But I had another realization. My birthday, now that I am older, has become a day for me to be nice to me.

  • I take the day off work. Always.
  • I treat myself to a pedicure or a massage. Often.
  • I go see a movie I want to see, on my own.
  • I eat out by myself while my family is at work and school. Then I let them take me out to dinner.
  • I go to the gym if I feel like it. Or I sleep in. It’s up to me! No guilt.
  • I buy a chai and don’t feel badly about spending the $ although I could make one at home.
Birthday chai

Photo credit: bearepresa / Foter / CC BY

I don’t expect lots of presents, or a party, or everyone singing to me (that’s the kid part), but I thrive on the excuse to put me first for a few days. 

As a Mom, a wife, a friend, a daughter, a sister, a teacher, a writer, a freelancer, a dog owner…and all the other roles I play, I can’t always put my own desires at the top of the list. But when my birthday comes along I focus on what will make me happiest.

Instead of thinking of birthdays as being just for kids, I’ve realized it’s time I treat myself like it’s my birthday more days out of the year!

Happy Hours, Free Food, Birthdays..Security?

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It’s been a couple of years (thankfully) since I last had to clock in at an office job. Nevertheless, I was not at all surprised by a security firm’s findings that data security is less important than office birthdays and who stole a yogurt out of the shared break room fridge.

Centrify surveyed 400 IT decision makers in the U.S. and UK to find among the most frequent topics of office conversation:

  • Employees leaving or joining company (30% US, 7% UK)
  • Happy hours (24% US, 17% UK)
  • Free food left over from meetings (22% US, 20% UK)
  • Holidays and birthdays (22% US, 18% UK)
  • Kitchen etiquette (18% US, 17% UK)

Plus you know that holidays/birthdays should be higher since the free food is often a birthday cake and happy hours are prompted by staff birthdays!

Birthday cake

Photo credit: Buthaina AlOthman / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

Centrify goes on to argue that “every effort” should be made to educate users about data threats and security protocols. Yet I don’t envy the guy who chimes in over coffee: “sure there’s free brownies over at accounting, but when’s the last time you changed your Internet password?” Let’s just say he is unlikely to be invited to the next staff birthday shindig.

You can bet this brilliant birthday cubicle decorating idea would be the talk of the water cooler:

Office birthday fun

Photo credit: Ryan Leighty / Foter / CC BY

BTW, another interesting survey finding? Weather-related emergencies were more likely to be talked about at work in the U.S. (25%) than the UK (14%) where one supposes a stiff upper lip helps them get through all that rain without worry. Although I’ve seen the Scots try and survive a few centimeters of snow and it wasn’t pretty!

Brace for a Birthday Flour Storm

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Before today, I’d always associated flour with birthdays in terms of making a cake. Now, however, I will have to rethink this.

Did you know that in Germany, on someone’s 16th birthday it is tradition to throw flour over his or her head? Apparently at 18 they do eggs. (I did not find any indication they continue through the cake recipe with sugar at 21 or baking soda at 25). Actually, at 25, unmarried men are treated to sock garlands around their homes. The Sockenkranz labels them confirmed bachelors. Sort of like the Pepper Person tradition in Denmark.

Better yet, in Jamaica, no one is immune from this powdery tradition. Mango Salute magazine reports family and friends “spend days devising cunning ways” to enable a so-called “Flour Shower” before adding on some kind of liquid leaving the birthday boy or girl covered by goo (Too bad giving umbrellas is verboten).

This tradition is also seen in Indonesia. Blogger Lily Wiggins shared her own experiences being floured there, along with her appreciation for how the tradition prompted even strangers to smile and wish her “Selamat Ulang Tahun!”

There are other cultures that butter the nose of the birthday celebrant, so I pity the single man of Canadian and Jamaican descent spending his 25th birthday in Germany. He’d be surrounded by socks and slipping into his birthday with a buttered nose and floured head!

Birthday tradition

Photo credit: martinak15 / Foter / CC BY

Gift Giving Taboos

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Birthday gift

Photo credit: / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA

For many people part of the excitement of birthdays is the gifts. I’m not only talking about kids. Adults can get pretty loopy about the loot they receive too.

In the interest of helping out loyal readers of this blog, I’ve compiled a list of gifts to avoid for the superstitious and with attention paid to international customs:

  • It’s bad luck to give a clock or timepiece gift in China as the word for clock sounds like death.
  • Handkerchiefs are another bad choice (because you know you were ready to give those monogrammed ones you made!) as they are used to wipe away sadness and frustration and you don’t want to draw those to the birthday recipient.
  • Moroccans may not want their gifts in yellow, pink or violet as those are colors associated with death.
  • Put a small amount of money in a new wallet, purse, or piggy bank to give the receiver good luck or to ensure that they will never be without money (depending on which interpretation of the tradition you adhere to).
  • Shoes can be a mistake as they symbolize giving the birthday guy or girl the ability to walk away forever.
  • Giving an umbrella or fan is thought to be bad luck too (because the Chinese words for fan and umbrella sound like the word meaning to scatter or to lose).

Apparently, the way to counteract many of these superstitions is for the birthday boy or girl to pay the giver a token sum (even a penny). In this way they have paid for this item instead of getting it as a gift. Somehow that keeps the chi/fates/bad luck elves at bay.

And whether or not you are superstitious, you should probably steer clear of self improvement gifts. You might have the best of intentions, but you could easily offend your recipient by wrapping up that diet cookbook or bathroom scale as a birthday gift.

Need help with the wrapping of your now appropriately chosen gift? I blogged some suggestions in the past.

Birthday Branding

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When a company or organization uses a birthday as a way to emotionally appeal to consumers, you can imagine I’m easily sucked in.

Recently I saw a commercial online that truly embraces the birthday spirit. I enjoyed the video, but watching the behind the scenes video really enhanced my experience. So I decided that, even though I don’t know where this company is providing energy to the masses, I would highlight it’s super-sweet birthday celebrations commercial:

What I hadn’t realized the first time I watched was that they had 100 distinct cakes for each of the people feted in this video. Fun! And I love that they celebrated a dog’s birthday too!

Birthday dog

Photo credit: / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA

On the accompanying video, they collect insights into what a birthday means from people from the commercial production. A director says, “birthdays really tell you about where you are in your life, where you’ve been and where you’re going.” While others talk about the joy of wishing on the cake candles, appreciating the birthday milestone, and the fun of bringing family and friends together to celebrate you.

It’s the heartfelt enthusiasm throughout that makes me smile — in the commercial and its accompanying behind the scenes. So, while I can be suspicious of businesses that try to sucker us into spending $ with an appeal to birthday bliss, this one I had to share. It’s a dose of birthday sugar without calories to feel guilty about!