To ask what you all did for your big 40

[SidSparrow]

Curious to know if I'm alone in having one of the worst birthdays ever! It was as special as a wet fart. It feels like the big 40 is something people really celebrate - is it?

Nothing, it was in lockdown. I was supposed to be going to San Francisco for a holiday but not managed it yet obviously.

From what I can recall DH and I went away for weekend with DS who was 3 at the time. We stayed in a small hotel in Wales somewhere . We ate in an empty restaurant at 6 pm then went back up to our room where DH joined DS asleep and I had a very long bath

It was in the first lockdown so absolutely nothing. Think we got a takeaway.

Sat in ICU with my son who had a motorcycle accident.

@Hattie765 not sure why you have picked on @PoppityBoo 'a response to say this isn't what the OP is looking for ? She is asking what people did for their 40th

I went to Vegas! It was incredible!

Left Dcs with parents and went to Paris for 4 days with DH for a thoroughly cultural and filthy time.

It's next year.

We are going to krakow with friends to visit energylandia, the biggest theme park in Europe.

Without kids!

It was a few months after DH died so I didn't really feel like celebrating, but my family wanted me to try. So we went to the local gay bar for drinks and a quiz, then to a gin bar for cocktails. It was a bit of a change for my 90 year old grandmother! I had thought choosing the gay bar (which me, my sister and DS had been to before with my sister's girlfriend) would mean my parents and gran wouldn't want to go out at all, but I lost the gamble on that

It was actually quite a nice evening, but when I look at photos from that night, I can tell I was really sad. My sister and her girlfriend did the "40 gifts for 40 years" thing and some of them were daft things like a pot to hold false teeth, anti wrinkle cream and a purple rinse dye

It was lockdown so made a champaigne brunch for dh, dc and pils. Was lovely.

Had a big party! It was fab!

Takeaway and a film with my husband and kids. Was breastfeeding but managed a couple of glasses of birthday gin!

Cake and a takeaway I think. No visitors, no phone calls, 3 birthday cards.
Its my 50th next year, and since my parents are now dead and MIL will be too, that'll be one card but otherwise the same. Ds will be 16 by then, so maybe dh and I will be able to have a night away without him which would be the first in 10 years

I had a wonderful complete surprise party then the next day we flew to New York , another surprise. It was November so very Christmassy. All was going really great until my actual birthday. In the morning we went up the Empire State and then in the afternoon all I wanted to do was skate on the ice rink in Central Park. Off I went around the edge holding on and boom ! A kid who clearly thought he was Torvill or Dean slammed into my legs so hard that I shot into the air and landed splat breaking the ball of my shoulder joint into seven pieces. So instead of my limo ride around Manhattan I was in a hospital on a morphine drip while the doctors were deciding whether to operate or not . They didn't and I was released later that night and had to walk back to our hotel in a drug fog while pausing to puke into a McDonald's cup I had to pick up from the gutter 😂 it was unforgettable though and almost 17 years later is a good story for threads like this one .

Cafe breakfast. Dessert at a pub. Picked DD up from school early (she felt sick). Got tested for Covid. It was rock n roll.

Mine was a few days before many of the restrictions lifted this year. On the actual day, DH took the day off but it was bucketing down with rain. We took DC2 to toddler cinema, went for lunch and then picked up DC1 from school and went out for dinner all 4 of us. The next day, DH secretly arranged for 2 of my oldest friends to turn up for a BBQ in our garden, which was lovely. The following weekend, my parents and sister came up for another BBQ as a catch up Christmas and it was my niece's first birthday, so we made it more about that but it was nice to see people together after so long.

I had arranged for a weekend away with a group of schoolfriends as we were all turning 40 but that has been postponed to next year due to Covid. So still got that to look forward to.

Went to San Sebastian in Spain, my favourite city in the world, intending to eat /drink ourselves silly. It wasn't quite what was planned as we ended up having to take 11 mo DD with us which curtailed the bar hopping a bit, luckily the Spanish don't mind babies in bars and DD was the star of the show. I had dinner with my closest friends few days before, I'm not one for a party

Mine is next March. Partner is planning a city break...either in Poland or Austria

Did a weekend away with dh in a place I had always wanted to stay. Later dh arranged a surprise evening out with 6 of my friends. Loved it. Now the 5 0 is nearly here, no idea what I will do.

Lockdown 40th so husband indulged me with favourite food and wonderful, thoughtful gift.

Honestly one of my favourite birthdays.

Sweet FA. Not a card; not a present. Discovered his affair about a fortnight later (Boxing Day) so doubtless his money had been going on the seaside day trips with his mistress. All those Costa coffees and Tesco meal deals weren't going to buy themselves! Good job I don't really give a shit about birthdays.

I had a long weekend in Milan, DH arranged it with a little input from me (mainly him checking I wouldn't hate it!). We spent the actual day sightseeing and finished with several cocktails in a bar overlooking the main square.
It wasn't posh, certainly no 5-star hotel, but we hadn't been there before and it was fun.

DH paid for me to fly business class to America to meet up with American friends and attend one of their weddings. It was a couple of days after the actual birthday but was a lot of fun. We had a party at our house on the actual day for about 20 people.

Nothing much - thanks Covid!