15 March 2010

happy half-a birthday

celebrations are few and far between after valentine's day and before easter. oh sure, there's saint patrick's day but, other than the wearin' o' the green, it's not such a big deal around here.

so in an effort to liven up midwinter, when the girl was little we started celebrating her half birthday. i'd make half a cake, give her half a birthday card, sing half the birthday song... just enough frivolity to make an otherwise drab ordinary march day into something special and fun.

even though she's now grown, we still honor the half birthday. and to make it even more special, her hubby also has a half birthday within days of hers. i guess we could have celebrated both "special" days yesterday with a whole cake - but it was so much more fun to have two halves.

42 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you only put half the candles on the cake?? Cos that would feel GOOD!!! :)

Lynne said...

Oh, how wonderful. I'm going to remember that for my new-born grandson. We have no celebrations in August so it will be just perfect!

Anonymous said...

What a cute idea! I love it!

AuniLeigh said...

That is just awesome!

Anonymous said...

What a fun idea. Sounds just silly enough to be fun but not such a big deal that it's too much work to keep up with. Cute. Love the half-cake...I'm wondering if you bake the whole thing and discard half? Or put some kind of divider in the pan?...

middle child said...

what a cool idea. i've heard of the half birthdays but the half cake, half card etc,...Brilliant

Juli said...

Love half birthdays. My boys have birthdays in March and Nov. so their half birthays ususaly involve summertime fun. Also relieved to know I'm not the only person who celebrates them, must be a New England thing.

Christina Kim said...

What a unique way of celebrating birthday, I find it really interesting =)

IconicMuse said...

That's Brilliant!!

Anonymous said...

That is a really cute idea. I've always loved the idea of un-birthdays. But a half birthday is a much better idea.

Linda said...

Excellent idea! I love it!!

Driven2think said...

That's very nice. I might start that tradition if you don't mind.

RMb said...

what an adorable idea! :)

Jana said...

What a truly wonderful idea that you have come up with, just so that you can have a reason to celebrate.

It is things like this that turns the ordinary day into something enjoyable

Irene said...

I'm going to do that from now on for my birthday. Do you think I could get half presents? Or little presents? How did you solve that problem?

Aayushi Mehta said...

Wow, I feel like I should try this too!!

Unknown said...

the cake looks goood! and i'm gonna have to 2nd Danielle on half the candles! we may have just discovered a new way to be younger...

CrazyCris said...

sounds crazy and brilliantly fun! but how do you bake just half a cake?! :p

Matt Conlon said...

Nice! I thought I was the only one! Mine is the 21st of March. I never did cake or anything, but I always told people that it was my anti-birthday. hehe Great mind and all!

Truth Ferret said...

What a great, sweet idea!

My favorite holiday, growing up was Thanksgiving, because of the turkey and all the sides. My mom would sometimes prepare that meal for my August birthday, because I loved it so much and once a year wasn't enough for her special dinner.

I love your picture of the half-cake and the description of the half-card, etc. Isn't it great to celebrate someone we love?

TNL said...

Good post. Keep this good work going. :-)

lesapeamusings.blogspot said...

Thank you for sharing your special tradition.You are a profound blogger that is why i keep coming back. Take care

alphawoman said...

This is a cute idea!

MissJess said...

OMG! I soooo love that idea! I'll remember that when I have children.
Awesome cake btw :)

Grace Givenz said...

Nice idea! My sons were born June 24 and June 28. We celebrate their half birthdays by calling it Christmas!

Dana @ Bungalow'56 said...

I found you through blogs of note today. What an absolutely terrific idea. There are just not enough reasons to celebrate in this life, so thank you for a wonderful idea. It is just Bungalow's style. I wish I had thought of it!
Thanks,
Dana

Pagan Wind said...

HA HA HA! This is my kind of thing. Thanks for the great idea. I too like to Celebrate things that are worth celebrating but not recognized by calendars and such.

Justine Pitted said...

This is a really inspirational idea. One day maybe I'll introduce this tradition into a family of my own.

Relax A Little Bit said...

Loving this idea!

Anonymous said...

Gosh, that's sounds like so much fun! A great way to bright up the winter! =D

Alexandra_B said...

This was funny. I love the idea of a half birthday.

The Archaeologist said...

that's a great idea! to ensure we didn't feel left out when i was a sibling's birthday, my parents always made sure the person whose birthday it wasn't also got a couple of (small) presents. it made it all much more bearable!

chris said...

half-birthdays are a fun idea and i look forward to them. (except for my own, that is!) i bake a whole cake, then cut it in half - the nonbirthday half goes in the freezer for another time. we have not done half the candles although that's an interesting idea - or the correct number of candles and then a teeny 1/2 candle to indicate the six month mark! when the girl was little, there was always a small present to mark the day - but not so now that she's grown. funny that other new englanders do the same half-birthday thing! so feel free to take it and adapt to your own situations! kids, especially, love it!

Rick said...

I'm so happy that I am not the only person who celebrates their half birthday!

http://bittersweetsugarandsarcasm.blogspot.com/

carlyp1993 said...

i think if this was me wiht only half of brithday cake i think i would only put only after the candels lol that would make me younger lol

K Righter said...

My sister was born on Christmas. Everyone is already celebrating the holiday and sometimes she feels overlooked. She deserves a half birthday celebration, too!

gogendaz said...

I so like this halfway concept... sometime we really can't give the whole... Half is better than nothing...

croakingfrog said...

What a wonderful idea!

Mary said...

What a great idea! My son has a December birthday, and we therefore face the conundrum of having his birthday lost in the midst of Christmas festivities. But adding a June half-birthday would be fun!

Anonymous said...

This is such a great idea. I love it. I'm sure that by now, you have alot of people who have copied your idea... I know I just might. And my kids would get a kick out of it... any reason to have a little party... thanks for the fun idea. :)

chris said...

i hope a lot of people do copy the idea. that half-year mark is really important to little kids - when they're closer to the older age than they are to the younger one! maybe not to us old kids, though! anyway, half-birthdays are one of those silly things that are just plain fun!!

Cory said...

What a great idea...love it.