Feature image for The Hubbub Behind “Happy Birthday”

The Hubbub Behind “Happy Birthday”

A humorous reflection on birthdays explores aging, expectations, appreciation, and the small rituals shared across every stage of life.

4 min read

Photo Credit: © Can Stock Photo Inc. / barneyboogles

Hey, what is up with this birthday thing?

Birthdays make less sense to me with each passing year. When you’re a kid, you LIVE for birthdays. You get gifts, you do the old bring-cupcakes-into-school-for-the-big-“sing-to”-thing, and Grandma slips a real $20 bill into a card that has clowns and zoo animals on the front long after you turn 10. Your friends put you through the “spanking machine” on the playground—good times, good memories, good birthdays.

But somewhere around age 13, you start to feel sort of unsettled about telling people about your birthday. When you’re a kid, it’s cool because your family knows it’s YOUR day, but later you start to feel like it shouldn’t be a big deal. But then you still want something made of it from the new people in your group. But later you actually begin to avoid the attention again. Clearly we are conflicted on this topic.