trials and tribulations of a summer birthday

Seeing my birthday is 2 August (less than a week away), I figured it would be the appropriate time to explore the trials and tribulations of a being a summer baby.

As a kid, there took some planning (mostly by Mom) to ensure that my brother (DOB 25 July) and I had happy and fun birthday parties. This usually meant having a birthday party in mid-June or early September. Why? Most kids in my hometown either went to summer camp or on vacation...and in many cases both. For some reason, almost everyone was busy the last week of July and the first week of August. I'm certain that a number of my friends really thought my birthday was mid-June. Once I hit high school, then the celebrations actually occurred within a week of my birthday. It was quite the nice change.

Another disadvantage about having a summer birthday as a kid: I never got to bring treats in on said birthday and have the class sing "happy birthday" to me. Maybe I can be a bit of an attention whore at times (although this is totally acceptable behavior on one day of the year), but I was jealous. I wanted to be sung to. My family sang (or at least attempted) to me, but it's not quite the same. When I was 20, I finally experienced this piece of childhood. I was a camp counselor and one of the kids had the same birthday. One of the counselors found out so they sang to me as well. That was cool.

However, I thought the perils of summer birth would disappear with childhood. Oh, how wrong I was...

I thought in adulthood the summer vacation phenomenon wouldn't be a huge factor as you only get a couple weeks of vacay. This is and of itself is true. But another phenomenon has taken its place: reunions. Reunions of any sort. High school. College. Family. Apparently, the end of July/beginning of August are fabulous times for these celebrations. I'm not inclined to agree.

Despite my little tirade/temper tantrum/whatever you want to call it, I love that my birthday is in the summer. It's warm, usually sunny and people just seem to be more in the mood to celebrate. A celebration has never been cancelled due to a blizzard. There are more options for festivities - picnics, baseball games, etc. - if one so chooses. While in college, I ended up with multiple b-day celebrations: family, high school friends and college friend (upon return to campus in August). Talk about a trifecta. And yes, that meant I got not one, but two big 21st birthday celebrations. Additionally, my birthday's in early August so there are absolutely no significant holidays; ergo, no competition.

Maybe a summer birthday isn't so bad after all, not that I could change it. But if I had the opportunity, I don't think I would.

Cheers.