We have a debate around our house about who has the “best” birthday—we all have an opinion about what is the best season and month to have one’s birthday in. When I was growing up, my early February birthday fell quite close to Christmas while both my brother and sister had June birthdays. I was certain that having a summer birthday was perfect and was determined that my own children would have the benefit of summer birthdays if I had any say about things whatsoever…
Well, two of my children have summer birthdays, and one was born on Easter. So, I came pretty close to getting them all in the summer. As a child, I thought that summer was the best time for birthdays since it was halfway from Christmas and the winter holidays and my brother and sister would get “summer things” as gifts—new swimsuits, beach towels, bicycles, etc. While my wintry birthday nestled in between Christmas and Valentine’s Day always got me a heart-shaped cake and “wintry” gifts like sweaters and boots.
Now, of course, my summer-birthday kids aren’t so sure that having a summer birthday is the best. According to the two of them, the downside is that your birthday never falls during the school year so you don’t get all that school attention, the official party at school (when they were younger, there would be one celebration where all the summer birthdays were lumped together—usually in May), and the ease of rounding up friends for celebrations. My Easter child has always been pretty smug with her late spring birthday—she’s still in school, but the weather is warm and every seven years or so, she gets to have her birthday on Easter!
I’ve had this conversation outside the family as well, people tend to be pretty ready to talk about birthday opinions (it’s a great party conversation if you find you are trying to get something going or at a loss for something to talk about)—what IS the best month or season for a birthday?!
See Also: Birthdays at School and Family Birthday Celebrations