Maybe when I'm 105 I'll be recognised for being born

And it’s a day before the other big one. No December birthday is great. Put simply it’s no more than an extra chore for family and friends who have more than enough things to do in the run-up to Christmas between the preparations, the shopping all wrapped up with the endless flood of festive invitations, office do’s, cocktail parties and family get-togethers at the Christmas markets. Christmas Eve or worse Christmas Day, the days after, you may as well write them off. Combined gifts, presents in festive wrapping, the Christmas ‘birthday‘ is a one stop pit stop in the year, no other milestone event ‘just for you’. In fairness those in my circle have tried to make an effort through the years to help acknowledge the day among the Christmas carnage. Every year mum lovingly putting together a ‘favourite’ birthday cake without fail. One guess what it is, a yule log. How genius. She still has the plastic robin sat on a twig which just finishes it off. There is a phrase synonymous with the day “Will you be in? We’ll pop in on you at some point.” That is exactly what the day has become people “popping in and right back out,” if they turn up at all. Even the birthday cards don’t have a windowsill space of their own, they are relegated to a ‘spare’ surface somewhere. Lets face it no one wants to eat out or pay out anymore on Christmas Eve so come the evening time it’s become tradition to squeeze in a drink or two at the pub before or after church in celebration of the other big birthday. But just in case of sounding sour grapes (I’m not at all) it is not all doom and gloom. Being a December baby also has its perks. Science says winter born, particularly those in the final month have every chance of lasting to a grand age of 105 – which works out at a potential further 72 non-event birthdays! This is according to the The Journal of Aging Research, which cited a German research project as finding a ‘significant long-lasting effect on survival’ in December babies. Many studies have also found those born in the 12th month are more likely to be healthier, athletic, and even end up in high-paid jobs... Then there are those, slightly more questionable ones, for instance suggesting winter babies like to be up early and go to bed earlier than their summer and spring counterparts. In the minority perhaps for that one. All in all, we’re a calmer breed of person too ‘Winter babies are significantly less prone to irritable temperament,’ according to the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology. It’s the summer babies much more likely to exhibit ‘cyclothymic temperament’ in English mood swings between happy and sad. A very merry birthday to me.