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Original poster

Half birthdays

184 replies

ridiculousridiculousness · 08/02/2019 22:06

Settle a disagreement for me:

Half birthdays...for or against?

Today has been our ds 3 and a half birthday. He's had cake and a day of choosing what he wants to do, eat etc.

One of us was all for this. The other against it (but still enjoyed the cake!) and claim it's a fad that will disappear soon.

OP posts:

ZenNudist · 09/02/2019 01:04

Ive literally never ever thought "today i am / my child's x and a half"

Hard enough celebrating all the birthdays we have in our family without doing half birthdays.

WorriedMum11 · 09/02/2019 01:38

Ffs what is this world coming to I give up - ridiculous - forget the half birthday- really - there is so much Sh!t on this earth and you have time for this - I give up. You have kids who bloody earn money from the age of 4 gathering stuff from rubbish tips and you're celebrating half birthdays

Cuppaand2biscuits · 09/02/2019 07:48

Why do I do it?
Why not? It's nice to make a fuss over people. If I had visitors coming over I'd bake something nice and set the table nicely and if that puts me in line with characters from Enid Blyton then I'm happy with that!
I like looking after people, I really don't see how there's such a fuss to be made out of saying 'Happy Half birthday'. I wouldn't book the day off work if it fell on my work days.
I don't take it especially seriously.
How did I hear about it?
I just have a good memory for dates so happen to remember which date is 6 months after their birthday and make an effort to celebrate a little.

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Events & celebrations

troubleswillbeoutofsight · 09/02/2019 07:49

FFS

EdithWeston · 09/02/2019 07:53

It can be nice for those with Christmas birthdays.

Never heard of it for any other reason, and would think it a bit odd (sorry)

EnoughSnowAlready · 09/02/2019 08:00

It's a ridiculous idea unless the person in question or a family member is life limited. I can just about see why people might do it for those with Christmas birthdays, but otherwise no, it's crazy.

dawn96 · 09/02/2019 08:01

A girl I know who had a birthday on Christmas Eve used to have a half birthday that makes sense to me

Boobiliboobiliboo · 09/02/2019 08:02

May I be nosy and ask what a truly awful birth date is?

Very early January. as a child he was told that he had had a joint Xmas/bday present but he had had the same as his siblings so knew that was a lie and people just couldn’t be bothered. As an adult most people usually forget, those who remember are too skint/hungover to do anything.

When his 30th looked to be a massive letdown, I suggested a summer BBQ party instead. It was such a success we did it again for his 35th and 40th. We often go on holiday for his actual birthday on those years so it doesn’t feel just like another day.

I had a younger sibling who didn’t live for even a day. Life is precious and should be celebrated. Taking DD to a coffee shop for cake and tea half way between birthdays doesn’t seem that indulgent to me. It’s just marking the passage of time.

HandsOffMyRights · 09/02/2019 08:04

What fresh hell is this?

You cannot be serious...

Boobiliboobiliboo · 09/02/2019 08:05

How did I hear about it?
I just have a good memory for dates so happen to remember which date is 6 months after their birthday and make an effort to celebrate a little.

Me too. And DD has a little maths brain and likes to work all sorts of maths out. She ran into the bedroom on DH’s birthday to tell him that together was 5.whatever times older than her today.

Does nobody else have a child for whom “and a half” is important during their early years?

Spidz · 09/02/2019 08:05

The only half birthday we ever did was 6 months (we had half a cake ) because DD has been so poorly and this was a great milestone.

Primulas · 09/02/2019 08:09

My DS has two (sort of) birthdays! His actual birthday and the anniversary of the day he came out of hospital. They've both only happened once so far though so I expect the second one will be forgotten but not by me

thefirst48 · 09/02/2019 08:14

My daughters birthday is Christmas Eve but she's still young so I might do something along the lines of a half birthday when she's older purely so she can pick something she wants instead of only getting things once a year over two days.

BriocheBriocheBrioche · 09/02/2019 08:18

My little girl is born on Boxing Day so her birthday is always swallowed up with Christmas.
She doesn’t get a present but we usually have a nice day out on the 26th of June for her.

bookworm14 · 09/02/2019 08:20

Oh, come on. Unless you’re born on Christmas Day or something, this is absolutely not a thing.

HappyMama01 · 09/02/2019 08:24

I don't even celebrate my birthday let alone a half birthday

Aragog · 09/02/2019 08:33

Have known someone with a Christmas Day birthday we celebrated with her school friends in mid June - it's when had her party etc.

Dd always jokes it's her half birthday but that's because it falls in her grandads birthday. But we don't celebrate it in any way.

dawn96 · 09/02/2019 08:36

I’m also born on Boxing Day so no birthday really but don’t want a half birthday because it’s not your birthday and pointless in my opinion but some kids want a party and presents and all the attention

VanillaSauce · 09/02/2019 08:52

Not half birthday but we celebrate the date of our 5/8 of our birthday.

RaffertyFair · 09/02/2019 09:00

VanillaSauce eh?

evaperonspoodle · 09/02/2019 09:02

Unless your child has a terminal illness I think it is unreasonable. We got an invite to a party once and it said on the invitation that it was the birthday child's siblings half birthday, so two smaller presents would be appreciated rather than one big present. They also asked us to bring a dish so you can guess we didn't go and two dc missed out on a present.

dudsville · 09/02/2019 09:02

Whoa, back up out of that quick as you can! Before you know it you'll be marking every month. Poor bastards born on the 31st would strange no chance!

Hoppinggreen · 09/02/2019 09:05

Ive got 2 Christmas babies and even we don’t do it

Etino · 09/02/2019 09:05

Such ire!
I go out all for Halloween solstices Easter advent 6th night etc.
But the point of birthdays is that they’re annual.

username79999 · 09/02/2019 09:07

Why ??
You do understand people celebrate birthday because it's the day they were born ? 6 months is no difference to 4 months or 10 months what's the point.
Tbh you can get cake any day of the year if you want .
Also you are setting you child to be a self entitled spoilt pain in the arse. Good luck with that .

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