Extra birthdays ain't half a silly idea

In fact, if it hadn’t been for an email from a pizza chain and another from a burger restaurant, the milestone may well have gone by completely unacknowledged.

I’m talking of course about my “Happy Half Birthday.” Yes, that’s right, a whole six months have elapsed since my actual birthday and the latest marketing ploy seems to be bombarding people with special offers to help them celebrate their Half Birthday in style.

Now I’m always up for any excuse for a good knees-up, but that just seems to be clutching at straws – even if they are the straws in the free cocktail you’ve earned for reaching your mid-birthday point.

To my stupefaction, it seems restaurants trying to cash in on some extra custom aren’t the only ones who celebrate Half Birthdays – it seems for some people, they are actually a reason for a bash.

One friend sheepishly admitted her son had been invited to one of his friend’s “Half Birthday Party” and was now pestering for one himself.

She also confessed the friend came from a wealthy family with parents who obviously had more money than sense and their reason for doubling up on party time was: “Well, they’re only young once and a year seems such a long time to wait when they’re little.”

And there was me thinking it was only the Queen who was greedy enough to have two birthdays.

Apparently one of the main excuses is for children whose birthday happens to fall in the winter so they “miss out” on having a bouncy castle in the sunshine in the garden.

Firstly, with the weather in this country being the way it is, chances are even summer-born children aren’t guaranteed a party basking in the glorious sunshine.

Take it from me as I recall a disastrous second birthday party at home for our August-born twins.

Anticipating sunny weather and having recently moved into our home with a good garden for little ones, we bought a variety of inflatables, including a bouncy castle and ball pool, planning fun in the sun and a barbecue for food.

And how it rained! My only memories of that party is about 20 two-year-old children and their accompanying parents all crammed in the house while Hubby dashed to and fro from the garden trying to cook burgers in the rain.

Secondly, if you do have a child with a winter birthday and want them to have a get-together with their friends in the summer months, just invite a group of them around for a fun afternoon rather than branding it a “Half Birthday Party”, which to me sounds very much like an excuse for getting double the presents.

As for the justification that the poor little darlings have to wait too long for a yearly birthday, how are children ever going to learn about real life and patience being a virtue if people are just going to pander to their every whim and spoil them rotten?

Where does it stop? Let’s go the whole hog and have two Christmases?

Or how about asking the Easter Bunny to make an extra visit in November?

In my eyes, there are a minority of reasons when a Half Birthday party might be justified. Such as if some tragic or major event happened around the time of their real birthday. Or maybe the mother was due to give birth to a new sibling around the time of the real birthday so planning a party for six months time seemed more manageable.

Personally, I believe the Half Birthday trend is more about parents who want to show off their 
affluence.

Don’t they know that’s what designer handbags are for?

Half Birthday celebrations are almost as bad as those other pointless themed days.

Did you know December 1 was National Earmuff Day?

Seeing as one of the emails I received congratulating me on my Half Birthday party offered me a free bottle of Prosecco next time I dined at that restaurant, it seems Half Birthday festivities aren’t just for children.

Oh well, I suppose if you can’t beat them, join them.

Excuse me now, I must go… I need to start putting plans in motion for my Three-Quarters Birthday Party.