RSS Feeds: Why Do We Celebrate Birthdays and Have Birthday Parties?
I think having birthday parties is just an excuse to eat, drink and be merry at the expense of the person whose birthday is being celebrated. Why do we celebrate birthdays anyway? Do we really have to be reminded that we're a year older? Nowadays, my own birthday just depresses me and that's about it.
It's Not a Birthday
Where did we go wrong? We say "happy birthday", but it isn't a birthday — it's the anniversary of a birthday. We're so used to hearing it said wrong, that we don't even realize it should be "happy birthday anniversary" or just "happy anniversary". Perhaps people don't want to confuse it with a wedding anniversary, but people now say "happy anniversary" for anniversaries other than wedding anniversaries.
My younger son's girlfriend broke up with him a while back because he forgot their "anniversary". What anniversary? It was the six-month anniversary of when they became boyfriend and girlfriend. Give me a break!
As an aside, and only because I just realized what I did, look at the heading above. Do you see "It's Not"? Now look in the paragraph just below it. Do you see the "it isn't"? They both mean the same thing and it's just that two different words of the three word phrase (it is not) are contracted in each case. This is one of the reasons that people avoid using either contraction when writing. I just thought you should know in case English is not your first language.
My Wife's Birthday
This will probably be the last time I write about a birthday. I'm only mentioning it because today is my wife's 48th birthday anniversary. It's the first day of the year where I and my wife are both recognized as being the same age. The last day is when I have my birthday anniversary in November. I seriously doubt I'll be mentioning that one.
Some would say that my wife's a cheater. She gets to celebrate her birthday for 39 hours instead of 24 because she was born in the Philippines and lives in Arizona, 15 hours behind the Philippines. I already wished her a happy birthday for the 27th (my 27th) and God help me if I don't wish her a happy birthday again when it becomes the 27th in Arizona. I would never hear the end of it.
Anyway, I don't ever want to write about birthdays or birthday parties anymore. There are too many other interesting things in the world to write about.
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I recently had my birthday – the husband and I went for Chinese food at our local dimsum restaurant. It was very relaxing – I choose to view birthdays as gaining in wisdom (as opposed to age). :)
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My daughter's b-day was the 26th :) And I totally agree with you that the whole birthday celebration thing is silly…but it's one of those things you just have to go with – some people take it very seriously.
Last year both me and my hubby forgot our wedding anniversary, lol. At least we're on the same page :)
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I never forget the wedding anniversary because I know my wife won't. If I did, I would have to listen to her about it for an entire year.
Birthday celebrations are a fun way to celebrate life. For me, I just like to go out and eat. For my wife, I take her away for the day or a weekend. Gives her a nice break at least once a year from our hectic life.
I think they are just fun to say, you made it another year and hopefully we'll have many more with you.
cd :O)
Definitely don't forget the wedding anniversary – that's the important one! As to the "6 month anniversary", I have never been able to do anything like that with a straight face. The idea of celebrating not splitting with a boy/girlfriend has always been ridiculous to me, same as the 1 week and 1 month celebrations.
I blame Hallmark, with their Secretary's Day, Boss' Day, Grandparents Day (surely they are covered by Mother's and Father's Days?) and so on in a bid to keep making us buy cards and other disposable paraphernalia.
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