Celebrating a birthday over and over legitimately

 

birthday blog

Photo credit: clevercupcakes via Foter.com / CC BY

A clerical error for the win: This woman has three birthdays.

Bristol woman Sandra Blackwell made the press this past week for celebrating her birthday on the wrong date for the decades. She thought it was Nov. 10. Then her birth certificate arrived and it said Nov. 11. Just when she was getting used to that confusion, she unearthed a letter from her primary school listing her birthday as Nov. 12.

“I have only just got used to having two birthdays so I was stunned to find out I actually have three,” Blackwell told the Bristol Post.

It’s the birthday that just keeps on giving!

Admittedly, she does not look as enthusiastic about these three birthdays I would be.

Admittedly, she does not look as enthusiastic about these three birthdays as I would be.

“I think it is something that runs in the family,” Blackwell said. “My mum celebrated her birthday on the wrong day for 16 years. My nan had a lot of kids and just got confused with the date. It turned out that her real birthday was almost a week later.”

Of course, since she’s a Brit, the press there is comparing her to the Queen. She quite famously has two official birthdays. Now Sandra Blackwell has her beat. I think that demands a birthday crown at her next party!

Of course, the three birthdays are all in a row, which makes it somewhat less exciting. I already pretty much give myself a birthday week, so I don’t know that this would make a big dent in my birthday fun.

However, if I had three legitimate birthdays, think of all the great things I could do:

  • I could make one a party birthday where I celebrate with friends and family.
  • I could finally share one (since I have extra).
  • I could make another one all about me (wait, all three are about that…uhm…).

Well, I am confident I could have a raucous time with three birthdays annually. I would want them separated out more — say every four months. A welcome alternative to half birthdays as they come that much sooner!

No birthday is stupid

Really, I’m not trying to pick on scarymommy.com bloggers, but they recently posted another birthday-themed blog, saying half birthdays are stupid.

Half Birthday banner

Photo credit: shinyai / Foter / CC BY-NC

One of my best friends from college had an Aug 14 birthday and her mom also celebrated her half birthday. Decades later I’m still sending her half birthday cards because half birthdays are one more opportunity to celebrate and share the love. (All friends now feeling slighted that they’ve never received a half birthday card, please private message me and I will try to remedy this wrong).

Half birthday festivities are an overall good idea for people who celebrate summer birthdays. Such as my son’s awesome teacher assistant. All the kids love her, so they’re excited to make cards for her at her half birthday during the school year since they won’t see her on her actual birthday. How is this stupid?

When my son was six months my husband I hosted a half birthday super salad party for friends at our house. Would I have gone to the trouble of hosting a party if I wasn’t a crazy birthday freak? Likely no. But we all had fun, and I have a happy memory of that party. No one had to come, and we were adamant against gifts. So, what’s stupid about that?

It’s challenging enough to find opportunities to come together and celebrate and be happy. Do we need to label someone’s event as stupid? Maybe a 3/4 ounce weight gain party for a cockatoo would seem extreme. Yet if your friend wants to celebrate, and you love them, isn’t this reason enough to make an effort to be there for them? Tell me below what you think!