Why do British people (at least on MN!) Have such issues with adults celebrating birthdays?

I know 😅! There's a cracker on the thread tonight, the heating only comes on when it goes below zero! 🥶

I think it’s just on MN; in real life people celebrate things.

Yeah, that's how I look at it. Dress up, nice restaurant, friends, family it's great.

I'm not fussed about birthdays as such, but they are a great excuse to have a party and get people together.

For me it's not celebrating a birthday, but celebrating your good friends and family. The birthday is immaterial really

There are lots of introverts and socially awkward people online I guess. And then there are jealous, bitter and resentful types. Together they feel that nobody should celebrate once they turn 18.

In real life most people I know mark their milestone birthdays in some way or other. It might just be a small meal with family, it might be several small events, or it may be a big party. I have never once heard anybody judge somebody else’s plans. And nobody makes anyone else feel bad for their plans as we can recognise that everybody should celebrate in a way they wish.

Anyway here in my family and friend group we all love big parties. We don’t view them as indulgenr. We see them as fun events where you can catch up with people you haven’t seen for ages, and at our age it is often the only time to have a good dance to great music! Long live birthday parties!

I think things have changed since social media came along. A lot of people these days seem to celebrate the opening of a fridge door and plaster it all over Instagram or FB. And some of the celebrations do seem to be pretty performative. If you're talking about a good old fashioned knees up though, count me in.

And they are still too hot!

Oh god, the competitive under heating 🙄.
There's always someone who has their thermostat set to 7°c, which they claim is perfectly normal, they throw all the windows open and permanently wear shorts.

Did you invite Amal Clooney?

You make a small chicken last a week???. Well hark at you, your majesty

JWs don't celebrate birthdays, but I suspect most people in the UK do. There's certainly a good trade in birthday paraphernalia.

There seems to be quite a lot of lonely people on here judging by the amount of threads asking how to make friends. By lonely I mean having no one outside of their husband and kids. So the attitude could be a defensive thing? Personally, I’ll take any excuse for a celebration. Life is hard right now!

Because they make such a fuss here. Do what you want to do but to expect other people to be excited enough to go on holiday all because there is a zero is weird. The poster today was having a family meal, a siblings meal and seeing friends, but was being questioned as why she wasn’t having a party and holiday - meals and seeing friends is lovely and proportionate

Or a small chicken that lasts a week

I dislike celebrating my own birthday, would rather not acknowledge it, but I don’t have a problem with other people celebrating theirs.

It's not a British thing, it's a Mumsnet thing.

Oh me too. Halloween soon!

You're worse than Hitler 🤣

Mumsnet is an international site so there are lots of people posting who aren't British. Plus tons of different cultural influences within the UK. I've not noticed people being against adults celebrating birthdays in real life in the UK personally. People just like being contrary on Mumsnet

I’ll celebrate any old shit. Life’s bad enough!

Haha. Yeah. I'm English but this seems to be the case. Unless you only have the heating on for 2 days a year you're somehow inferior to everyone else who seem to derive pleasure out of being miserable and uncomfortable.

The vast majority of adults celebrate birthdays in the UK. It's just the vocal minority who think it's something to be ashamed about.

I have never understood this miserly attitude either!

Life is short, it's literally one day per year to do some nice things for you - who wouldnt want that?

Sometimes this place is like the online equivalent of the 4 Yorkshire man sketch by Monty Python- the one where they are all ridiculously bragging about who suffered the most and who grew up with the least. Competitive misery contest.

I don't know any 'British' people who object to adults having birthday celebrations. I've never met anyone in real life who thought it was odd.

MN is full of weirdos (who may, or may not be British)

I think there are a lot of birthday diva threads where posters feel entitled to be treated like a princess on their birthday and so those kinds of threads get backlash. In my view if it's your own birthday you are the one that should throw the party/buy the drinks and so on and create the celebratory atmosphere. But it seems like a lot of people sit back and do nothing and then get pissed off when no one else makes much of a deal of it.

I have no idea but I find it really odd. I don't understand people who say it's 'attention seeking' or whatever. It isn't, it's just fun. Same with weddings, although I can understand naysayers a little more with that, especially as with weddings there tends to be more pressure to attend.