<p>My birthday is today. Finals week. My birthday is always on or right before finals week–every year of undergrad. Everyone is studying; no one can do anything. It will be the same in grad school. Since sophomore year of HS, it was on AP week. Everyone was studying no one could do anything then. I understand studying is important, and I had a nice party this weekend and got lots of sweet birthday wishes today–and I’m thankful–but I’d like to be able to do something fun ON my birthday just onceonce in TWELVE years! </p>
<p>Yes, I know this really minor, but it’s really bugging me for some reason…</p>
<p>Everyone wants to feel special, whether its on their birthday or on any random Tuesday. If must be tough “celebrating” with finals hanging over your head, especially when you have probably gone out with lots of other people to celebrate their birthdays.</p>
<p>Why don’t you pick a random date close to your birthday and call it your celebration day? If you’re not comfortable with that, well, I understand that it is disappointing having your birthday during finals and/or AP tests.</p>
<p>It will never end. My husband’s birthday is always and will forever be during finals week, second semester. This was true when he was an undergraduate, a graduate student and for the several decades he has been a professor (except he exchanged taking finals for giving and grading them.) </p>
<p>Just declare your birthday to be a different day.</p>
<p>Psych, just this week I was thinking that it would be a real downer to have a birthday during AP week. </p>
<p>It will be a great time for a birthday when you’re older. My birthday is in the summer and my kids were always away at camp, etc. and now are away as camp counselors. I never have my family around on my birthday. Happy Birthday!</p>
<p>Thanks all! I’m very reluctant to “change” my birthday, as I was a 26 weeker (premie), and well, every day very much “counted.” My birthday literally made me who I am, so it’s extra important to me, perhaps.</p>
<p>My birthday is near Christmas. Everyone is busy buying Christmas gifts and really too distracted to want to have a birthday celebration. For several years when I was younger, I “changed my birthday” to a date six months later, which put it in summer, for party purposes. That worked out ok.</p>
<p>Now that I’m older, my birthday doesn’t seem important, so I pretty much ignore it.</p>
<p>I had the same situation, and just got over it during college. It was hopeless. There was always an exam or extreme term-paper pressure on my birthday. My friends were stressed out, too. Sometimes I’d buy a bag of treats and run around to give them to my friends for a study-pause, and that made them happy (for a moment) and acknowledged the actual day. Some years I took a prime-time evening a week or two later, for example, to go out for dinner with a close friend or something nice. </p>
<p>Don’t let the calendar boss you around. Just call it your birthday season and celebrate if and when you like.</p>
<p>Now that I don’t live on an academic schedule, I love my mid-May birthday because the weather’s generally nice, it’s close to Mother’s Day, and people are in a good mood in general – no snowstorms or extreme heat. I plant flowers. It’s the best.</p>
<p>Some people with awkward birthdays (like December 25) celebrate their half-birthdays instead.</p>
<p>You might want to do that sort of thing if you can work out a celebration that doesn’t involve people having to buy you presents. (They might not understand the “instead” part of the concept and feel obligated to buy you a gift twice a year instead of once.) And because you wouldn’t be choosing the date arbitrarily, you wouldn’t be minimizing the importance of your real birth date as much as if you just picked a random day.</p>
<p>S2’s b-day is the week after Christmas. School is out. Nobody is in town. People are just generally hung over from all the Christmas rush. Gets all gifts for the whole year inside of five days.</p>
<p>S1’s birthday is Valentine’s Day. It’s all hearts and flowers. </p>
<p>So yeah, both my kids got the short end of the stick on birthday celebrations too.</p>
<p>Sorry psych…hope you had a good day. Sometimes you just have to roll with whatcha got.</p>
<p>“Thanks all! I’m very reluctant to “change” my birthday, as I was a 26 weeker (premie), and well, every day very much “counted.” My birthday literally made me who I am, so it’s extra important to me, perhaps.”</p>
<p>Congratulations on making it! My younger S was a 28-week preemie, so I have empathy for you. Have you considered celebrating the day you came home from the hospital?</p>
<p>My birthday is in a few days, so I have been there. Most likely it doesn’t occur to your friends that you feel this way. I suggest that next year you talk to them and come up with a way to celebrate early. </p>
<p>One of my college friends had a late December birthday and always felt bad b/c we were always on break. After she let us know how she felt, several of us made a point of calling her at home (pre-cell phone era) on her birthday and she really appreciated it.</p>
<p>So sorry _psych. My birthday was in early September. Since we moved every two years half the time I was at a new school and didn’t know anyone to celebrate with. It was orientation week my freshman year in college. Eventually May will be a nice time for a birthday though!</p>
<p>I know how you feel. Even though I am an adult, I always feel a little sad on my birthday because I can never be with my extended family. This year, it coincides with my niece’s graduation ( whose birthday is the day after mine ) also father’s day weekend. I am having a dilemma because if I go to graduation, I cannot be with my husband or daughter and also miss father’s day. My husband’s older daughter has been really rotten to him in the last year , so she obviously won’t come thru …</p>
<p>One of my daughter’s has a b-day near Christmas and the other at the end of June…neither were good times for parties when they were little , so we had their parties different times when it was more likely that people would be home.</p>
<p>Back in 2000 , my mother was turning 70 , oldest sister 50 and sister closest in age to me, 50.
My other sister and I arranged a surprise trip for all of us to go to Bermuda. It was a lot of fun , but when it was time for me to turn 40 , no one would come down to NJ for a party for me…maybe I was petty too , but I was kind of hurt.
Now I just don’t expect or get my hopes up for anything , unless it from my own household</p>
<p>My D totally knows how you feel. Her birthday is early December. When she was younger it was always the week of Nutcracker rehearsals–so she never got to have a real party. When she was older it was always when finals were happening. The worst was the year she turned 21—she had an organic chem final and physics final on the same day. Great birthday present.</p>
<p>Grad school turned out to be better as finals are later (trimester type system) and she had a real birthday celebration with friends for the first time. She said she always wondered what it would be like to have a “normal” birthday like everyone else. She found out she really really liked it :)</p>
<p>So don’t assume if you go to grad school that the timing will be the same (but it could).</p>
<p>However, I agree with the poster above that once you get through the school thing, you’ll be happy your birthday is in May. What a beautiful month!<br>
And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!</p>