September Birthdays Can Be a Bummer...or not

Yesterday was the uber-princess's birthday. She'd been looking forward to it for...a year! At least that's what it felt like to her, I'm sure. The whole week prior everything paled in comparison to her approaching birthday.

"Are you excited to start preschool?", we'd ask.

"I'm excited for my birthday", she'd answer.

And each day that passed that no one left the house to shop for her she'd get more anxious. "You need to buy my presents," she sternly told her sisters. They laughed and meanly told her she'd get none, when in reality the presents were already wrapped and waiting.

So we celebrated heartily yesterday. Presents in the morning, presents and a balloon at Grandma's later, cake and more presents in the evening. But no kid party. She's only just started preschool and I wanted her to have time to make some friends that she could invite (little did I consider that she had a guest list already planned). And today she eagerly went to school remembering birthdays when her sisters were in preschool.

"I'll get a birthday crown," she said.

But there will be no birthday crown. They're slowly settling into their schedule and rituals. No parent helpers for another week. No birthday celebrating until then either. Hers is considered a "summer birthday". Bummer for her.

I know what it's like. In September you're still getting to know the other kids, the schedule, all that stuff. So when your birthday falls in September, it gets only sort of celebrated outside your home. When you have a party for school friends you can only invite the old ones, the new ones are too new. And if you're involved in an outside group, chances are it's too soon for doing birthday stuff at all. It's like a summer birthday, except you don't get the half-birthday celebration to make up for it.

I feel bad for the uber-princess: having to wait for her kid party, getting no crown today at preschool. But then again, I think September is one of the best months in the year. And so what if it September birthdays sometimes get overlooked in the transition. Having a birthday in September just makes all the excitement of a new school year that much more exciting. And not having to be publicly recognized for your birthday gets to be a better deal as you get older, especially if you don't want to discuss how much older that is.

All said, the uber-princess had a great birthday and since it's in September she's going to keep stretching it out for a bit. Tonight we'll be going to Famous Dave's in her honor.

Post Script: the uber-princess did get a crown at preschool after all. And she got a sticker and a card and the class sang to her. So okay, no bummer for her other than her mom not planning the kid party yet.