Birthday Planning

I feel like I'm pretty lucky to have a birthday where my birthday is. I suppose it sounds funny to say that, but there's a method to my madness. (Usually, there's just a lot of madness.)

For instance, consider the birthdays that fall near major holidays -- kind of sucks, doesn't it? Christmas babies, New Years' babies, etc. Their birthdays get somewhat overshadowed by those other celebrations and sometimes lost in the shuffle.

Christmas is a fine example of how people will combine their gifts. My brother's birthday falls near Christmas -- yes, every year, it turns out. And thus he's cursed with havnig combo birthday-xmas gifts -- yes, every year -- and we all know that in these cases, the total isn't always equal the sum of the parts! So he kind of gets gypped in the gift department! In years gone, my sister and I have tried to avoid doing that to him. It sucks, and I sympathize.

And around Christmas and Thanksgiving, you'd be lucky if most of your friends were even still in town to celebrate with you, instead of heading home for the holidays!

I suppose birthdays near Valentine's Day would mean combo events for the couple, but I would hope that wouldn't happen -- there should be a "public" party for the birthday, and another more intimate one for the couple. You shouldn't really skimp out on that.

One interesting birthday is my high school friend's: June 12. It's not near enough Canada Day or the Fourth of July, so it doesn't sound so bad. Except as students in high school, that period was always busy: everyone was always too nervous about final exams to celebrate with him. And when he becomes a father -- if he hasn't already, I aven't caught up with him recently -- its proximity to Father's Day will also come into play, and he'll again be the recipient of Combo Gifts.

The worst part is that you really have no say in the matter -- you can't really move your birthday to a more convenient date, can you? All I'm saying is that, while you may be relaxing on a Friday, please plan your future children's birthdays carefully, okay?