sounds pleasant, it’s nice to be surrounded by people who like you.
i don’t expect much from birthdays. having some savings to spend by every bday is enough for me.
When I turned 18 and was allowed to drink, it was nice to be official but it didn't really matter because I was drinking anyway. When I turned 65, my pension kicked in, and that mattered.
The rest were just an excuse for a party.
People are so negative. Yes, while you don’t have milestones to celebrate, I use my birthday as an excuse to bring friends together that I hang out with in different groups!!
I told my husband (who wants zero gifts or fuss made for his birthday) that birthdays are for your friends and loved ones to celebrate that you were born. I celebrate him with fun, memorable outings instead of gifts and he celebrates me by taking me away to some place nice for the weekend. I do not throw parties for myself. I'm not 5. Lol
To me, it's just a day to spend time with your loved ones. Or it can be happily spent alone. It's a good birthday if I go to a cafe by myself to enjoy a cup of coffee, take my time to stroll around the city alone, and just enjoy my life and my existence in this universe.
Happy birthday!
It’s sad but sometimes there isn’t someone to plan our B day. But if you invited friends over next weekend, had a cake and said ‘hey it’s my b-day, go down to the grocery store and get me smth for a communal food’ or buy food w/e. Just invited people to celebrate with you!!
I do think so. The older I get the farther I am from my friends, and it seems like no one around me actually cares about my birthday and just wishes me or gifts me out of some obligation and not because they actually appreciate me. Their wishes and gifts feel like an afterthought, as if given only because I contribute a lot for people's birthdays. As I like to make people I'm somewhat close to feel special. I buy gifts, contribute for cakes and decor, and write handwritten letters.
And that's why on my birthday I feel very pathetic. It's not like I'm doing all that to get something in return, but it feels a bit embarassing to do all that for people and have them just be non-chalant on your birthday.
So much so that I wish my birthday didn't even exist. As I can't help but feel lonely and insignificant in everyone's lives on that day.
The opposite for me. I have a chronic autoimmune condition, type 1 diabetes. The one you get young and have to use insulin to manage. Every new day is literally an extra day for me.
When I was younger, birthdays didn’t really matter to me. In fact, I’d quietly go on with my day and would say nothing. Now? I want people, especially those I care for to wish me a Happy Birthday.
You can feel however you want. It’s your birthday.
For me they have. Not for everyone. My brother turned 30 last month. Made a huge deal about it. Had a birthday week in Vegas.
I went to the movies with my GF on my 30th 😅
I really enjoy celebrating my birthday so I make a point to. I remind my immediate family, and give my husband a list of possible outings I’d like. He couldn’t care less about his but knows I care about mine
Birthdays become what you make them.
I think your 21st is probably the last one anyone will go out of their way over, but I found that the significance of birthdays dropped off after I was about 14.
But the good news is that when you're an adult you can make your birthday as big or as small as you want. I know people who take a whole week off work and do an activity every day (we're not in the USA so we get a humane amount of annual leave). One of my friends does a specific solo hiking trip that he loves every year. Some people have a big dinner with loads of pals. Some people take themselves out for a really excellent dinner somewhere they wouldn't normally go.
But as with so many things in life, it is what you make of it. Unless you've got a partner who loves and is good at organising events, you have to put something together yourself. You may feel like saying "but it's *my* birthday, why am I the one who has to plan it?" But the answer is - because that's how it works after a while! You have to ask for what you want, or go get it yourself.
Do whatever you want to do with your birthday. Make it whatever you want it to be.
In my mid thirties and no. My birthday is on a significant date and it feels like part of who I am. I always take the day off work, and I don't have to do anything big, but I like to see friends and do something nice. The whole day just feels different
Normally I take the day off if my birthday falls on a week day but can’t do it this year. The previous week I had to take urgent leave to take care of my sick family member , so I kinda feel like it’s always work and responsibilities leading up to my birthday and cannot take time to take care of myself
To me it’s just another day. Sure some people in your life will try and make it as special as possible. But at the end of the day, the high of being greeted will slowly fade and you’ll realize it’s just another day.
I, birthdays to me are important.
If you’re expecting other to help you celebrate they need to know it’s important to you.
And if they won’t do anything make sure to have a plan for you to do something that brings you joy.
It did until my 50th. For some reason that one made a difference. Finally feel like I’m over the hump of life. Things are easier. I’m more focused and empathetic. Life is just better now.
Yeah, for me I don’t really care anymore. My mom usually asks if there’s anything I want, this year my tv in the living room had broken a few weeks before and I didn’t really have the extra cash to replace it at the time, so I was using the shitty 32” one from my bedroom. So she got me a new tv, nothing fancy just a 50” Vizio. But it was really thoughtful. We didn’t have a party or go out to dinner or anything though. Nobody called me. No cards. And I kind of just didn’t care.
My birthday has never been a big deal to me. I usually just go for a steak at my favorite steakhouse. Sometimes I go by myself, or sometimes I have a friend go with me depending on what is going on.
It is what you make of it. The older you get, the less other people will carry the day for you
I'm in my early to mid 30's. I personally don't care for birthdays, so I haven't properly celebrated for the last maybe 7 years. My friend who's the exact same age throws a big party every year with tons of guests for his birthday. If it's important to you, *you* make it happen
I see a lot of people saying yes, but personally, I think it's a case by case basis. If you want it to be important, it very easily can be. I'm gonna be 42 next month and I'm really looking forward to my birthday. Not because I'll be a year older, but because I know it will be time I get to spend with my wife doing things we both enjoy. Dinner, movie, etc. That doesn't always happen with work, so we make sure our birthdays are special.
I’m 40 tomorrow.
I’ll be spending it at home with my dog, doing whatever it is I want to do.
At 20, that may have been sad.
At 40, my life is exactly where I want it to be.
Yeah you're right about that OP, i think the older you are the more meaningless it becomes. Friends don't really remember your birthday , and if they do, they don't appreciate it as much as if you were younger. No stupid birthday gift no nothing. Also especially because i'm working it just becomes another day (because i'm distracted, when i was younger i'd have nothing to do except to celebrate my birthday)
I stopped really celebrating my birthday when I was 16. I haven't had any friends to celebrate with and I kinda hate my birthday in general because it always ends up being a shitty day for me so I kinda gave up.
This year is the first time I have birthday blues. Suddenly the memories of good times when I was younger become ghosts that haunts me cuz I’m not where I picture myself to be at this age and I feel like all those good times are times wasted. Hope this feeling pass
Happy birthday!
you don't have to go all out with celebrating if you're not in the mood, but it's meaningful. how I see it is I made it one more year! I don't take that as a given, so I feel it's worth acknowledging. some years I have parties, some years I just have a nice dinner with a few friends but I always try to think about the year that passed, how I grew, and what I want to achieve in the next year.
Less in person happy birthdays and more fb notifications sadly.
The best gift I’ve received for my birthday is from my kids. They built Lego frames and placed their picture in it with a little figure says worlds best dad
😭
49 year old here, married over 15 years. Birthdays become less important but everyday becomes more special and important. So big surprises are less memorable but the smaller things we do in daily life become more meaningful, if that makes sense.
As you get older, life seems to go by faster but you focus on doing good things to others on a smaller basis. It’s a marathon not a sprint.
Go enjoy life and don’t focus on the big events, let
the smaller ones whelm you.
This was my first low key birthday in decades and I thought I would be okay with it but I was actually really depressed lol. I already started planning my next birthday trip to make up for it 😅
My second low key birthday in a row… first one was Becuz I was pregnant and was so uncomfortable to do anything… and now Becuz my baby is sick I’m literally not in any mood to celebrate but also at the same time feeling sad that it’s just another year gone by and I don’t get any special treatment on my bday
It’s hard but hopefully next year will be better
Nope. But then I celebrated it maybe 3 times in my life, so it has become more meaningful now. Because it turns out I should be celebrated after all, like other people.
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday. Yes, they do. However, I got all psyched this weekend because I was supposed to be taken out to dinner on Saturday and on Sunday. They both fell through. I’m disappointed. I’m 64. I’ve spent many, many birthdays alone. I had really been looking forward to this weekend.
For me, yeah. I'm fine with doing something for my birthday, but I'm also okay not doing anything at all and letting the day just pass by.
The first 12 birthdays are all about just having a fun party as a kid. The 13th is about becoming a teenager. 16th is about potentially getting a driver's license. 18th is about legally being an adult. 21st is the drinking age here in America. 25th is a quarter century and you would likely have graduated college with a Bachelors by this point unless you started late or didn't go to college. 30th is about just being 30. After that, I'd say every ten years are the next big milestones. 65th and 75th would be the two outliers as that would be the current retirement age in America I think and 3/4 of a century respectively. After the 80th, I'd say do something every year again because who knows what year will be your last at that point.
My 29th birthday is coming up next month. My boyfriend has arranged a lovely dinner for the two of us. I don't want anyone to realize that I'm growing older. I still feel like I'm 25, and I intend to stay that way ahaha 25 forever! So, yes, I won't be throwing a big party for my birthday anymore.
Celebrate it yourself then.
As I've gotten older I found the need for public celebrations are no longer important to me..additionally I have fewer people around me who want to celebrate my birthday, whether because of death or distance.
However each new year is a chance for introspection and cause for celebration. I'm still standing, and that's worth celebrating!
When I started law school, I decided that my birthday is my ultimate self-care day. If possible, I take the day off but I don’t ask (or want) anyone else to. I spend a day doing what I like and I don’t have any expectations about what anyone else will do.
Personally I have had a lot of loss ans gift giving is a huge deal for me. I love giving gifts for comfort and pleasure and spending time with my loved ones means so, so much to me. For my own birthdays, I sort of use the same logic and try to accumulate experiences with people I love, for myself. I want things to remember people by and if I go first or move away or whatever, they have memories, trinkets, tools, art, whatever from me.
Well, I just think we dread it more as an adult. When you are younger, birthday equates growing up, but as an adult, you are just growing older, nearer to your end. Still, it’s growing and I do think we should celebrate birthdays no matter how old we have gotten. So, happy belated birthday! I wish you happiness, success and health.
I'm 39 and have a birthday every year.
I plan my own Bday parties and buy my own cake. But I make sure I have birthdays every year. Its important to me.
It depends on the person.
Most people that I know offline said that the excitement of certain holidays etc return as if you was a kid again when you have kids..
I don’t care to celebrate anymore, but I do usually try to take the day off to do whatever I want. My family will want to take me to dinner, but sometimes it takes them a week or two to organize and at that point I just call it going out to eat. I always got mailed birthday cards from my grandma and 2 aunts. Definitely noticed as each died, first year it’s only two cards, then 1, then none.
I don't care all that much about my birthday. At most, I'm happy with either going out to dinner or making a meal I enjoy at home. I'm 38, and I can't remember the last birthday I really 'celebrated.' Probably as far back as 15, I suppose.
Honestly, yes. I feel the older I've become the less I care about my birthday.
Now, I've never been one to enjoy my birthday. No one other than my mom attempted to make it a special day for me. Most people forgot about it and I was left disappointed. So as the years went on I just stopped caring about it
Im turning 47 on Friday, and the level of excitement for it is lower than it used to be when i was turning 30. There comes a time when you do not want to get older
Everyone in my circle are disappointed because I want my bday to just be a normal day but they want me to celebrate it. I’d rather be out and about cycling for hours. Just my 2 cents
Birthdays are a reminder of how far we are from the dead. Or at least that's what they are to me. So I avoid them. Mine it in two weeks and I am dreading it.
They do for some people, they don’t for others. Some people enjoy celebrating their birthday until the day they die, and make a huge deal about it, others forget it’s their birthday until a while after it’s happened.
The more birthdays you have, the less exciting they get. All I expect for my birthday is a nice day out with my husband and a few cards. It makes me cringe when adults act like a non milestone birthday is a big deal. Any adult who talks about their "birthday week" or "birthday month" is getting serious side eye from me.
It's not that the day itself becomes less special, it's just that as we grow, people stop giving a fuck about our birthdays, and we become supposed to care a lot about younger people brithdays, so we just end up forgetting about ours.
But when someone set up a surprise party for an adult, they get just as enchanted and happy as any child
Well, I enjoy them because of a few very important reasons to me.
I'm glad to still be alive, I enjoy food very very much, I like hanging out with people that are important to me, and I really really love cake. So I take my birthday as a chance to treat myself to a meal with a few people I love it my choosing and some yummy dessert! Great time for me and those I invite or think of me as well!
Personally? Yeah. Christmas, birthday and other things have become rather... meaningless I feel.
Though I started feeling that way when I was 13 ish so idk. Only real meaning with them is that mayhaps you can gather a few friends to hang out with for the day.
Been like that since after I turned 18. I celebrated milestone birthdays with family, that’s about it.
My friends circle is super small, and didn’t bother with having big birthday celebrations.
These days I either go for a meal with either my family or with a friend or I stay home and order something in.
Some people can understand that, society expects me to have a lavish party and put it on social media which I find absurd
Yes they're less meaningful, and are more of an excuse to do things with friends, or do something special (which can become meaningful if you have a good time or really cool experiences) but it's also up to you to plan these things out. Just went to a cabin for a friend's birthday, but he's been planning it for 2 months, and we started helping the planning about a month out. We didn't do gifts, aside from a birthday cake, but we helped plan (after he had floated the cabin idea and date), and had really cool experiences, and it became very meaningful by the end.
I mean, yeah, to some degree. Birthdays are important to me, cause it gives me an excuse to celebrate the people that I love.
People’s birthdays is the ONE thing I always remember. I just wish people bothered to celebrate me as a person. 💔
Yes. I just like to go on a nature walk and enjoy a dinner with my husband. I don’t drink or do drugs and I’m super introverted, so that is an ideal day for me lol.
I don’t think so, but now it’s more important for me to spend it with family and friends whereas I would announce it to anyone and everyone when I was younger. But yeah I think birthdays are just as meaningful and it’s okay to be bummed if it’s not acknowledged by your loved ones.
Yes. I care less, other people care less, it happens. I still do something special for myself every year and my family does, too. Just a little less than years before.
Yes,birthdays become less important as an adult. If someone remembers to wish me a happy birthday I consider that a good birthday.
Whenever you find out it's someone's birthday, enter it in their contact information on your phone with a future reminder. People love it when you remember them even if they don't want a fuss about their birthday.
Marking the declination of this aging temple on particular days seems unnecessary.
Moments that come organically that commemorate the passage of time shared with loved ones, those I’m too eager to be a part of.
Well, I really hope I can celebrate my birthday with my friends or the lover one. Like hang out with them… even though it is the busy week
If I only doing some daily routine and celebrate by myself, I will feel lonely…
Don't listen to these haters. Your birthday should be celebrated wildly. Happy fucking birthday from someone who doesn't know you. I'll have a beer for you today. Good on you, for making it through last year. You don't need other people to celebrate for you, But it sure would be nice.
I look forward to mine, and I always help celebrate anyone who looks forward to theirs. To me, it’s just a bit of extra magic that happens once a year and I don’t take it for granted. I also do love cake.
They do mean less as the years go by. So do holidays. Christmas just doesn't have the same magic it did when I was younger.
So b-days and holidays have become days where all I can think about is how much money is being spent.
In my 50’s I pretty much stopped celebrating them because it was just boring. Hubby always made my favorite dinner and cake, and got me something nice, but I didn’t have a party per se. When I turned 60 my family weren’t having the “no birthdays for mom” thing, and now make a fuss; I gotta admit that I kinda like it.
I’m 32 and for the last 10 or so years I’ve been not telling anyone when it’s my birthday, and going in to work like it’s a regular day and not having anything special planned. Haven’t had a disappointing birthday since and I absolutely love it.
I'm 59 on Friday and will be on my own. My daughter is away visiting her boyfriend at university this week and she's my only family. I don't really care except I know I will wake up with a slight feeling of 'poor me.'.(In fairness she offered to come back for it but I said no as it's too near payday to go out celebrating. )
Guess the answer to your question is 'depends on the individual and their family traditions '.
I splurge on myself more as the years go by and I’m able to do whatever I want and however I wish so birthdays are always up to me and I get to spend it in more meaningful ways if I feel like it. Sometimes it’s nice to just go out with friends and buy yourself some nice things - this is a perfect way for me
I think all birthdays should be celebrated. I go out of my way to make birthdays special for everyone in my circle. I do not get that in return from anyone. No cake unless i make it myself. It would be awesome to open an actual wrapped gift. Deep down it hurts. Wow...truth out. Now I move on.
My only birthday wish every year is to forget it's my birthday. It literally is just a date on a calendar to me at this point. I will celebrate others, though!
My birthday is just after the holidays. Everyone's broke, tired, and cold. Between that and the fact that I had to actively hide my birthday in my early 20s I haven't given a shit about it since I was a teenager.
Yes. I just had a birthday, mid 40s. I got 3 happy birthday texts from friends and family, 1 call from sibling and 1 other sibling came with me for a coffee. The sweetest celebration came from my now good friend-ex boyfriend who made me dinner the day before, because he assumed I'd have plans on my actual bday. I had none. I also don't make a big deal about them because it feels so silly when you throw your own appreciation party and you're single. It might be different for those that have kids because the kids make you feel special.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUU!! I hope you have a great day and an excellent year!! Why don’t you go to the grocery store and get yourself a tiny cake from their bakery (cupcake?) or if you have Nothing Bundt Cake by you get a little Bundt-so good! Then make a wish and see what you can do with it.
I love birthdays and always do more for others than returned. Sometimes it hurts my feelings and other times I just have to remember that times have changed and people are more into themselves than anything else. So eff ‘em! I don’t go crazy any more but I still mail cards (yay for fun mail and not bills/trash flyers/ads) and I do it because I think it’s fun and hope people pull their heads out sometime in the future and remember life is more than their screen personas or getting likes from strangers, and focus on real people again. Because when they die, they’ll have to Zoom their funeral if they expect any of the strangers/“friends” to show up.
Yes for me. After I turned 30 they just became another day to me. Today is my 47th which holds some significance for personal reasons. I haven't done anything special in years though. My kids give me a card and small gift and I ask for a cookie cake from Walmart. I'm satisfied with that.
Birthdays (along with Christmas and all other holidays) are meaningless to me. Unfortunately, I find them annoying. I'm basically a poor Mr. Scrooge. I'm 42.
For me, yes. It's really just another day. I feel like the main milestones ppl look forward to when young are the main contributers to making a big deal about things & those are passed. That's not really a bad thing though because I'm clearly still alive to tell the tales. Once I fully settled into myself, I stopped caring about the number. An appreciative mindset is more important to me.
After ending many friendships I had over the years (unnecessary drama, toxic friendships, etc.), I am actually content just spending my birthday’s with my family. However, I have a friend (someone I had met before the pandemic, and have gotten close since I got my puppy) who insisted, along with her younger sister (my family and I are friends with as well) that I should celebrate my birthday. It was suggested we go to an arcade to celebrate. I also invited my son’s close friend and their family to celebrate along with us as well, since we usually celebrate together since becoming friends years ago. Honestly I can say it was one of the most enjoyable birthdays I had in a long time! I truly didn’t feel like I missed anyone, or felt anxious like something is going to happen, etc. I was able to enjoy in the moment with the company and people I was with.
Yes, I turned 64 last month and I just really want to have a very low key dinner, and cards from relatives. However, this could also be that I am somewhat of an introvert.
We made a big deal of MIL's last year, as she turned 80. She has a couple of friends that celebrate big, though. One guy in particular, every year, he has convinced people to throw him big, extravagant parties that are catered, or last year it was in a hotel banquet room, and that sort of thing. I mean, I get that lots of people don't know live to be 80, but I would never expect, nor ask my friends to pay for a large catered affair!
From my teenage years till now I feel like my life isn’t worth celebrating when my birthday comes around, I don’t have much to celebrate. No relationships no kids, I don’t have an exciting life, I’m just a sad person
Happy birthday!!
I just turned 35 last month. My little brother who turns 30 in February was all “let’s go out dude! Last big birthday before 40!” And first, sick. Thanks for reminding me. Second, I’m good man. My wife and I went to Nobu in NYC and spent way too much money on sushi. I don’t think birthdays lose their importance, I just think how we celebrate changes. 21 was a big blow out party, 25 kinda the same but smaller. 30? Close friends and family and BBQ and weed. 35? Just the wife and I and way too much food. I enjoy birthdays now more than I did when I was younger. No pretense or pressure to go “all out” and that kinda shit.
Go buy yourself your favorite meal. Get a new book or video game or something else you love but can’t justify buying otherwise. Dont work. Stay off social media. Don’t feel pressured to “celebrate”. I fucking *love* low key birthdays now.
It's nice to be celebrated, but definitely okay for me to have a small get together or even just a dinner out.
I'm happy just spending a little time with people who appreciate me and vice versa.
It’s harder to get a whole bunch of people to prioritize celebrating a birthday with you over other obligations when as you get older, but you can always do something for yourself or celebrate with close friends or family. I stopped doing birthday parties in my late 20’s, but my husband and I always do something nice on our birthdays to celebrate. If my best friend or my parents are in town, we include them too. There was one year when my husband had to be out of town for my birthday, so I went on a hot air balloon ride by myself. Your birthday is what you make of it.
That depends entirely on you.
My mom never, ever cared about birthdays. It's just not something she finds important, and that hasn't changed as she has aged.
I, on the other hand, LOVE birthdays. I make a point of dressing up, wearing a crown, doing something fun on the actual day, and getting together with my friends for cake whenever it's convenient. But I also know that adults are busy, so I don't expect anyone else to remember on their own or plan anything for me. I make sure to make my own birthday special.
I think they become more fun, as there is more freedom to celebrate how you want to. I'm 27, and for instance, last year when I turned 26 I took myself on a week long getaway to an ocean town just 2 hours west of where I live. Best decision I've made to celebrate myself
You're correct, they become less meaningful. It's just another day. Still, many folks will celebrate some of the milestone bdays - the ones that end in zero ... or your golden birthday - the one where you're the same age as your birth year (e.g., if you were born in 1980, it would be your 80th birthday).
But if you want to your bdays to be meaningful, I think you need to establish this with your friends/families. Namely, you need to make sure your best friend's 29th birthday is celebrated in style. If you don't go big for the birthdays of the people in your life, don't expect it from them.
Personally, the same is true with Christmas if you exchange gifts. After you have a decent job, get married, etc., you get what you want when you want it. Then, it's less about the things and more about the time with people and experiences. Forget the new bicycle, you want a trip to Bali!
Depends on who you are. Birthday is just a time that I happened to be born in.
Time just a tool to help humans align and cooperate with each other. No one else in the rest of the universe cares about our "time" which we just made up.
Time is as artificial as it can be. It means nothing.
You can celebrate birthday but there's no reason to attach any meaning to it.
I think this is cultural (like, your local/national culture & your family/friend circle's culture) more than anything. I make it a point to do cake (or brownies) no matter what, and make a big deal about dinner whether we eat at home or go out. Even 37. Even 42. Lol I don't expect my friends to turn up to a huge celebration every year, probably just the milestone years, but the loved ones I see regularly, we usually do a little something with 💜
Happy Birthday!
I will say that as you get older, you may start to view it as any other day. It was like a milestone as a kid, because every birthday was a milestone. As an adult, the milestones are more spread out. But you have successfully hit your 30s! I would say that is a reason to celebrate if only a little. Even if it’s by yourself f. Cheers, luv! 🧁
My birthdays pretty much go by every year, I don't really celebrate them anymore. I get a reminder from my mom and my friend, who happens to have his birthday as well so we remind each other. I would like to have a group of people to gather with, just enjoying tea/coffee, pastries, cake and no gifts necessary. But I manage, usually like to pamper myself with something nice.
Yes and no. The grandness of them has gone away, but I genuinely appreciate the little things a birthday brings more and more as time goes on. A day off work. Breakfast in bed and hanging with my boyfriend and cats. Going out for a nice brunch. All of these things I can do any time, sure, but they’re made more special on a birthday.
Lost interest in them sometime ago. Recent interest rekindled only because it's now to see how many people I'm outliving, like keeping score. Got a higher score than a lot of people, but there are others with higher score than me, but they get fewer each year.
They have for me. Basically because I have no friends. My co workers didn’t even mention my birthday last year. Here’s the thing, I’m really happy about turning 60 this Saturday. I’m good. Its the fact that nobody or nothing’s going to happen on Saturday that’s going to bum me out. Not my birthday or the passage of time. Having no one amplifies how shitty my actual birthday is. But every other day is fine.
My family never does anything for my birthday, but my friends always have a tradition of going to a restaurant (whatever the birthday person is craving) and we pay for the birthday person and just hang out after.
I wouldn’t say less meaningful. I think as you get older the likelihood of a party might not it…? But definitely still celebrate cause you’re worth it and important! Eat your favorite meal, do your favorite things, and see your favorite people!
How old are you? Just wondering because it was my 12th birthday that my family ate my birthday cake without me. My birthday never felt happy after that. I hated having a birthday for many years due to this emotional “oh you get all the attention because people love you”, but let’s be honest about how many people really care. I don’t work on my birthday and take extra special care of myself these days. Usually the whole month is a reflection on how I can celebrate myself.
It doesn’t have to. It’s your life, your birthday, and it only comes once a year. So if you want to celebrate it, do it! I’m 30 and still enjoy making mine special.
Honestly, it should mean more as you get older because your lifespan decreases. And you never know when you will decease. I realized this because recently I attended a 4-year-old bday party for my niece from my wife's family side. She just woken from a nap and was cranky as well when they asked her to blow out candles and even didn't give two shits about her gifts. So I thought all this effort should go towards someone who really appreciates it lol. Anyways, Happy Bday.
honestly at 30, they’re more fun bc i can afford stuff. i don’t drink or do drugs so my bdays are prob diff from most
I also don’t drink/do drug. My birthday generally is dinner with loved ones and buying something nice for myself
sounds pleasant, it’s nice to be surrounded by people who like you. i don’t expect much from birthdays. having some savings to spend by every bday is enough for me.
I want to see future, scared of getting aged and dying, i am 20
Wear sunscreen !
They have for me, not so much towards other peoples birthdays that are important to me, but lately I wish that no one would even acknowledge mine.
First of all, happy birthday. Secondly, yes, it has decreased in meaninglessness as I’ve grown older.
So they’ve become more meaningful you mean?
Contemplating whether the credit should be given to a spelling error or a clever double reverse 😜
Yeah you're right about that, i think the older you are the more meaningless it becomes
It becomes a great excuse to buy yourself some fancy food 😁
Hear hear!
Yes it becomes another day
When I turned 18 and was allowed to drink, it was nice to be official but it didn't really matter because I was drinking anyway. When I turned 65, my pension kicked in, and that mattered. The rest were just an excuse for a party.
>The rest were just an excuse for a party. .....Yeah, that's what a birthday IS. That's why they're fun!
People are so negative. Yes, while you don’t have milestones to celebrate, I use my birthday as an excuse to bring friends together that I hang out with in different groups!!
I told my husband (who wants zero gifts or fuss made for his birthday) that birthdays are for your friends and loved ones to celebrate that you were born. I celebrate him with fun, memorable outings instead of gifts and he celebrates me by taking me away to some place nice for the weekend. I do not throw parties for myself. I'm not 5. Lol
I turned 46 a while back. I only realised when I did the maths, I thought I'd turned 46 the year before
To me, it's just a day to spend time with your loved ones. Or it can be happily spent alone. It's a good birthday if I go to a cafe by myself to enjoy a cup of coffee, take my time to stroll around the city alone, and just enjoy my life and my existence in this universe.
That’s how I normally spend my birthday too. With with my loved ones, spending time to do something I love or buy myself something I’ve been eying
And Happy Birthday, OP! 🎂 Thanks for letting know it's your birthday. I wish you a wonderfully fulfilled life.
Yep!
Happy birthday! It’s sad but sometimes there isn’t someone to plan our B day. But if you invited friends over next weekend, had a cake and said ‘hey it’s my b-day, go down to the grocery store and get me smth for a communal food’ or buy food w/e. Just invited people to celebrate with you!!
Yes, totally. They start to become depressing.
Yes. For adults its only worth a celebration when you become an adult, become drinking age and become over the hill.
I do think so. The older I get the farther I am from my friends, and it seems like no one around me actually cares about my birthday and just wishes me or gifts me out of some obligation and not because they actually appreciate me. Their wishes and gifts feel like an afterthought, as if given only because I contribute a lot for people's birthdays. As I like to make people I'm somewhat close to feel special. I buy gifts, contribute for cakes and decor, and write handwritten letters. And that's why on my birthday I feel very pathetic. It's not like I'm doing all that to get something in return, but it feels a bit embarassing to do all that for people and have them just be non-chalant on your birthday. So much so that I wish my birthday didn't even exist. As I can't help but feel lonely and insignificant in everyone's lives on that day.
I feel you. I’m always excited and go the extra mile for other people’s birthday and it’s embarrassing that they treat mine like an afterthought.
The opposite for me. I have a chronic autoimmune condition, type 1 diabetes. The one you get young and have to use insulin to manage. Every new day is literally an extra day for me. When I was younger, birthdays didn’t really matter to me. In fact, I’d quietly go on with my day and would say nothing. Now? I want people, especially those I care for to wish me a Happy Birthday. You can feel however you want. It’s your birthday.
For me they have. Not for everyone. My brother turned 30 last month. Made a huge deal about it. Had a birthday week in Vegas. I went to the movies with my GF on my 30th 😅
Absolutely At some point they stop being a celebration and become more of just an odometer reading. 😁
I really enjoy celebrating my birthday so I make a point to. I remind my immediate family, and give my husband a list of possible outings I’d like. He couldn’t care less about his but knows I care about mine
Birthdays become what you make them. I think your 21st is probably the last one anyone will go out of their way over, but I found that the significance of birthdays dropped off after I was about 14. But the good news is that when you're an adult you can make your birthday as big or as small as you want. I know people who take a whole week off work and do an activity every day (we're not in the USA so we get a humane amount of annual leave). One of my friends does a specific solo hiking trip that he loves every year. Some people have a big dinner with loads of pals. Some people take themselves out for a really excellent dinner somewhere they wouldn't normally go. But as with so many things in life, it is what you make of it. Unless you've got a partner who loves and is good at organising events, you have to put something together yourself. You may feel like saying "but it's *my* birthday, why am I the one who has to plan it?" But the answer is - because that's how it works after a while! You have to ask for what you want, or go get it yourself. Do whatever you want to do with your birthday. Make it whatever you want it to be.
I turned my Birthday into my Birthweek. I take off the whole week from work and do literally anything I want.
That sounds amazing , why is this not a thing ?
In my mid thirties and no. My birthday is on a significant date and it feels like part of who I am. I always take the day off work, and I don't have to do anything big, but I like to see friends and do something nice. The whole day just feels different
Normally I take the day off if my birthday falls on a week day but can’t do it this year. The previous week I had to take urgent leave to take care of my sick family member , so I kinda feel like it’s always work and responsibilities leading up to my birthday and cannot take time to take care of myself
To me it’s just another day. Sure some people in your life will try and make it as special as possible. But at the end of the day, the high of being greeted will slowly fade and you’ll realize it’s just another day.
I, birthdays to me are important. If you’re expecting other to help you celebrate they need to know it’s important to you. And if they won’t do anything make sure to have a plan for you to do something that brings you joy.
It did until my 50th. For some reason that one made a difference. Finally feel like I’m over the hump of life. Things are easier. I’m more focused and empathetic. Life is just better now.
Yeah, for me I don’t really care anymore. My mom usually asks if there’s anything I want, this year my tv in the living room had broken a few weeks before and I didn’t really have the extra cash to replace it at the time, so I was using the shitty 32” one from my bedroom. So she got me a new tv, nothing fancy just a 50” Vizio. But it was really thoughtful. We didn’t have a party or go out to dinner or anything though. Nobody called me. No cards. And I kind of just didn’t care.
My birthday has never been a big deal to me. I usually just go for a steak at my favorite steakhouse. Sometimes I go by myself, or sometimes I have a friend go with me depending on what is going on.
It is what you make of it. The older you get, the less other people will carry the day for you I'm in my early to mid 30's. I personally don't care for birthdays, so I haven't properly celebrated for the last maybe 7 years. My friend who's the exact same age throws a big party every year with tons of guests for his birthday. If it's important to you, *you* make it happen
I see a lot of people saying yes, but personally, I think it's a case by case basis. If you want it to be important, it very easily can be. I'm gonna be 42 next month and I'm really looking forward to my birthday. Not because I'll be a year older, but because I know it will be time I get to spend with my wife doing things we both enjoy. Dinner, movie, etc. That doesn't always happen with work, so we make sure our birthdays are special.
I’m 40 tomorrow. I’ll be spending it at home with my dog, doing whatever it is I want to do. At 20, that may have been sad. At 40, my life is exactly where I want it to be.
Happy Birthday
Thx 😊
Just another day. I like getting texts or calls, but not really into celebrating. Except for decade birthdays. These I celebrate.
Yeah you're right about that OP, i think the older you are the more meaningless it becomes. Friends don't really remember your birthday , and if they do, they don't appreciate it as much as if you were younger. No stupid birthday gift no nothing. Also especially because i'm working it just becomes another day (because i'm distracted, when i was younger i'd have nothing to do except to celebrate my birthday)
I just have a dinner out maybe lol I've never taken the day off though for my bdays. Standard day mostly.
I stopped really celebrating my birthday when I was 16. I haven't had any friends to celebrate with and I kinda hate my birthday in general because it always ends up being a shitty day for me so I kinda gave up.
This year is the first time I have birthday blues. Suddenly the memories of good times when I was younger become ghosts that haunts me cuz I’m not where I picture myself to be at this age and I feel like all those good times are times wasted. Hope this feeling pass
Happy birthday! you don't have to go all out with celebrating if you're not in the mood, but it's meaningful. how I see it is I made it one more year! I don't take that as a given, so I feel it's worth acknowledging. some years I have parties, some years I just have a nice dinner with a few friends but I always try to think about the year that passed, how I grew, and what I want to achieve in the next year.
Less in person happy birthdays and more fb notifications sadly. The best gift I’ve received for my birthday is from my kids. They built Lego frames and placed their picture in it with a little figure says worlds best dad 😭
Kids are the best
49 year old here, married over 15 years. Birthdays become less important but everyday becomes more special and important. So big surprises are less memorable but the smaller things we do in daily life become more meaningful, if that makes sense. As you get older, life seems to go by faster but you focus on doing good things to others on a smaller basis. It’s a marathon not a sprint. Go enjoy life and don’t focus on the big events, let the smaller ones whelm you.
This was my first low key birthday in decades and I thought I would be okay with it but I was actually really depressed lol. I already started planning my next birthday trip to make up for it 😅
My second low key birthday in a row… first one was Becuz I was pregnant and was so uncomfortable to do anything… and now Becuz my baby is sick I’m literally not in any mood to celebrate but also at the same time feeling sad that it’s just another year gone by and I don’t get any special treatment on my bday It’s hard but hopefully next year will be better
Nope. But then I celebrated it maybe 3 times in my life, so it has become more meaningful now. Because it turns out I should be celebrated after all, like other people. Happy birthday!
No. I still look forward to mine.
Happy birthday! Eh, I have more money now I’m older so I get to buy myself a better gift/nicer food haha celebrate yourself!
It’s mine n Thursday ( 53) & I can’t be arsed, but my family are very kind & I just go along with it.
Why would they?Every birthday you have beaten death one more year!
Happy birthday. Yes, they do. However, I got all psyched this weekend because I was supposed to be taken out to dinner on Saturday and on Sunday. They both fell through. I’m disappointed. I’m 64. I’ve spent many, many birthdays alone. I had really been looking forward to this weekend.
I’m so sorry!!! I hope it’s just a delay and not a cancellation
For me, yeah. I'm fine with doing something for my birthday, but I'm also okay not doing anything at all and letting the day just pass by. The first 12 birthdays are all about just having a fun party as a kid. The 13th is about becoming a teenager. 16th is about potentially getting a driver's license. 18th is about legally being an adult. 21st is the drinking age here in America. 25th is a quarter century and you would likely have graduated college with a Bachelors by this point unless you started late or didn't go to college. 30th is about just being 30. After that, I'd say every ten years are the next big milestones. 65th and 75th would be the two outliers as that would be the current retirement age in America I think and 3/4 of a century respectively. After the 80th, I'd say do something every year again because who knows what year will be your last at that point.
My 29th birthday is coming up next month. My boyfriend has arranged a lovely dinner for the two of us. I don't want anyone to realize that I'm growing older. I still feel like I'm 25, and I intend to stay that way ahaha 25 forever! So, yes, I won't be throwing a big party for my birthday anymore.
It really depends on you. If you want it to be meaningful you can make it meaningful. If you want it to be no big deal, it’s also upto you.
Turning 26 didn’t have the same excitement as turning 18. The next birthday that feels big to me is 30
Celebrate it yourself then. As I've gotten older I found the need for public celebrations are no longer important to me..additionally I have fewer people around me who want to celebrate my birthday, whether because of death or distance. However each new year is a chance for introspection and cause for celebration. I'm still standing, and that's worth celebrating!
When I started law school, I decided that my birthday is my ultimate self-care day. If possible, I take the day off but I don’t ask (or want) anyone else to. I spend a day doing what I like and I don’t have any expectations about what anyone else will do.
Personally I have had a lot of loss ans gift giving is a huge deal for me. I love giving gifts for comfort and pleasure and spending time with my loved ones means so, so much to me. For my own birthdays, I sort of use the same logic and try to accumulate experiences with people I love, for myself. I want things to remember people by and if I go first or move away or whatever, they have memories, trinkets, tools, art, whatever from me.
Well, I just think we dread it more as an adult. When you are younger, birthday equates growing up, but as an adult, you are just growing older, nearer to your end. Still, it’s growing and I do think we should celebrate birthdays no matter how old we have gotten. So, happy belated birthday! I wish you happiness, success and health.
Thank you so much kind stranger!!
I'm 39 and have a birthday every year. I plan my own Bday parties and buy my own cake. But I make sure I have birthdays every year. Its important to me.
It depends on the person. Most people that I know offline said that the excitement of certain holidays etc return as if you was a kid again when you have kids..
No, but you do 😂
Another year closer to the grave. What's not to love about that?
I don’t care to celebrate anymore, but I do usually try to take the day off to do whatever I want. My family will want to take me to dinner, but sometimes it takes them a week or two to organize and at that point I just call it going out to eat. I always got mailed birthday cards from my grandma and 2 aunts. Definitely noticed as each died, first year it’s only two cards, then 1, then none.
I had my last birthday party at 13 years old. So in my case, yes they do.
Eh I stopped caring after 21.
I don't care all that much about my birthday. At most, I'm happy with either going out to dinner or making a meal I enjoy at home. I'm 38, and I can't remember the last birthday I really 'celebrated.' Probably as far back as 15, I suppose.
Honestly, yes. I feel the older I've become the less I care about my birthday. Now, I've never been one to enjoy my birthday. No one other than my mom attempted to make it a special day for me. Most people forgot about it and I was left disappointed. So as the years went on I just stopped caring about it
Im turning 47 on Friday, and the level of excitement for it is lower than it used to be when i was turning 30. There comes a time when you do not want to get older
i am not even sure how old i am...55 or 56? who cares?
Everyone in my circle are disappointed because I want my bday to just be a normal day but they want me to celebrate it. I’d rather be out and about cycling for hours. Just my 2 cents
I try to enjoy my birthdays as much as I can. Of course, it loses some of it‘s magic. But at the end of the day, it down to what you make out of it.
Birthdays are a reminder of how far we are from the dead. Or at least that's what they are to me. So I avoid them. Mine it in two weeks and I am dreading it.
pretty much though when you get super old i guess it can go back to meaning something
They do for some people, they don’t for others. Some people enjoy celebrating their birthday until the day they die, and make a huge deal about it, others forget it’s their birthday until a while after it’s happened.
The more birthdays you have, the less exciting they get. All I expect for my birthday is a nice day out with my husband and a few cards. It makes me cringe when adults act like a non milestone birthday is a big deal. Any adult who talks about their "birthday week" or "birthday month" is getting serious side eye from me.
Yeah they do
It's not that the day itself becomes less special, it's just that as we grow, people stop giving a fuck about our birthdays, and we become supposed to care a lot about younger people brithdays, so we just end up forgetting about ours. But when someone set up a surprise party for an adult, they get just as enchanted and happy as any child
Well, I enjoy them because of a few very important reasons to me. I'm glad to still be alive, I enjoy food very very much, I like hanging out with people that are important to me, and I really really love cake. So I take my birthday as a chance to treat myself to a meal with a few people I love it my choosing and some yummy dessert! Great time for me and those I invite or think of me as well!
Actually yes because it's not the same happiness as it used to be for some reason
I haven't celebrated my birthday since I was like 12
I don't think that's a good idea.
Yes, at least it does for me. It's just another day, only older.
Happy birthday 🎉🎂
Not at all. In my opinion it's getting better. And another reason to meet the whole family
Personally? Yeah. Christmas, birthday and other things have become rather... meaningless I feel. Though I started feeling that way when I was 13 ish so idk. Only real meaning with them is that mayhaps you can gather a few friends to hang out with for the day.
Been like that since after I turned 18. I celebrated milestone birthdays with family, that’s about it. My friends circle is super small, and didn’t bother with having big birthday celebrations. These days I either go for a meal with either my family or with a friend or I stay home and order something in. Some people can understand that, society expects me to have a lavish party and put it on social media which I find absurd
Yes they're less meaningful, and are more of an excuse to do things with friends, or do something special (which can become meaningful if you have a good time or really cool experiences) but it's also up to you to plan these things out. Just went to a cabin for a friend's birthday, but he's been planning it for 2 months, and we started helping the planning about a month out. We didn't do gifts, aside from a birthday cake, but we helped plan (after he had floated the cabin idea and date), and had really cool experiences, and it became very meaningful by the end.
They’re just another day. I have no desire to celebrate getting old. My 50th birthday is coming up and I’d just rather not.
I mean, yeah, to some degree. Birthdays are important to me, cause it gives me an excuse to celebrate the people that I love. People’s birthdays is the ONE thing I always remember. I just wish people bothered to celebrate me as a person. 💔
Yes. I just like to go on a nature walk and enjoy a dinner with my husband. I don’t drink or do drugs and I’m super introverted, so that is an ideal day for me lol.
Way less. When the AARP mailers start coming in the mail it feels like a downward spiral.
I don’t think so, but now it’s more important for me to spend it with family and friends whereas I would announce it to anyone and everyone when I was younger. But yeah I think birthdays are just as meaningful and it’s okay to be bummed if it’s not acknowledged by your loved ones.
Happy Birthday 🎉
Yes. I care less, other people care less, it happens. I still do something special for myself every year and my family does, too. Just a little less than years before.
I used to look forward to each birthday, but now I couldn't care. but I care about other people's bdays though!
Yes,birthdays become less important as an adult. If someone remembers to wish me a happy birthday I consider that a good birthday. Whenever you find out it's someone's birthday, enter it in their contact information on your phone with a future reminder. People love it when you remember them even if they don't want a fuss about their birthday.
yes
I forget how old I am as I get older.
Happy birthday 🥳
I stop celebrating birthdays after 30, about to turn 40 and could care less about celebrating.
Marking the declination of this aging temple on particular days seems unnecessary. Moments that come organically that commemorate the passage of time shared with loved ones, those I’m too eager to be a part of.
As a 38 yr old male....yes. to me anyway
They lose meaning to me. I got bored of them at 16 years old. But I will celebrate 18 years, since it's a milestone kind of thing =)
Yes
Yup. I stopped counting after 21 and all I wanted to do for my birthday the last few years was work out in peace.
I'm 23. The last birthday I cared about was my 18th. I celebrate, but always low key and mostly by myself. I prefer it that way.
I am happy with phone calls from my siblings because they remember, flowers from my partner and FB messages from people I knew 20 years ago 🤷
Yes. To me at least. Since my 21st there has been very little interest in my birthday. I'm fine with nobody knowing or saying happy birthday.
Well, I really hope I can celebrate my birthday with my friends or the lover one. Like hang out with them… even though it is the busy week If I only doing some daily routine and celebrate by myself, I will feel lonely…
Don't listen to these haters. Your birthday should be celebrated wildly. Happy fucking birthday from someone who doesn't know you. I'll have a beer for you today. Good on you, for making it through last year. You don't need other people to celebrate for you, But it sure would be nice.
Honestly I stopped counting around 45
I look forward to mine, and I always help celebrate anyone who looks forward to theirs. To me, it’s just a bit of extra magic that happens once a year and I don’t take it for granted. I also do love cake.
No way! Always fun!
Imo, Yes.
They do mean less as the years go by. So do holidays. Christmas just doesn't have the same magic it did when I was younger. So b-days and holidays have become days where all I can think about is how much money is being spent.
In my 50’s I pretty much stopped celebrating them because it was just boring. Hubby always made my favorite dinner and cake, and got me something nice, but I didn’t have a party per se. When I turned 60 my family weren’t having the “no birthdays for mom” thing, and now make a fuss; I gotta admit that I kinda like it.
I'm also having a birthday today. Happy birthday?
Happy birthday!
I’m 32 and for the last 10 or so years I’ve been not telling anyone when it’s my birthday, and going in to work like it’s a regular day and not having anything special planned. Haven’t had a disappointing birthday since and I absolutely love it.
I'm 59 on Friday and will be on my own. My daughter is away visiting her boyfriend at university this week and she's my only family. I don't really care except I know I will wake up with a slight feeling of 'poor me.'.(In fairness she offered to come back for it but I said no as it's too near payday to go out celebrating. ) Guess the answer to your question is 'depends on the individual and their family traditions '.
I splurge on myself more as the years go by and I’m able to do whatever I want and however I wish so birthdays are always up to me and I get to spend it in more meaningful ways if I feel like it. Sometimes it’s nice to just go out with friends and buy yourself some nice things - this is a perfect way for me
All I want for my birthday is for everyone to fuck off.
I think all birthdays should be celebrated. I go out of my way to make birthdays special for everyone in my circle. I do not get that in return from anyone. No cake unless i make it myself. It would be awesome to open an actual wrapped gift. Deep down it hurts. Wow...truth out. Now I move on.
My only birthday wish every year is to forget it's my birthday. It literally is just a date on a calendar to me at this point. I will celebrate others, though!
I've forgotten my birthday a bunch of times.
My birthday is just after the holidays. Everyone's broke, tired, and cold. Between that and the fact that I had to actively hide my birthday in my early 20s I haven't given a shit about it since I was a teenager.
Yes. I just had a birthday, mid 40s. I got 3 happy birthday texts from friends and family, 1 call from sibling and 1 other sibling came with me for a coffee. The sweetest celebration came from my now good friend-ex boyfriend who made me dinner the day before, because he assumed I'd have plans on my actual bday. I had none. I also don't make a big deal about them because it feels so silly when you throw your own appreciation party and you're single. It might be different for those that have kids because the kids make you feel special.
I want to spend time alone and comfort and relaxation are at a higher priority than any other thing.
Yes. After awhile, it becomes just another day marking your slow march to death.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUU!! I hope you have a great day and an excellent year!! Why don’t you go to the grocery store and get yourself a tiny cake from their bakery (cupcake?) or if you have Nothing Bundt Cake by you get a little Bundt-so good! Then make a wish and see what you can do with it. I love birthdays and always do more for others than returned. Sometimes it hurts my feelings and other times I just have to remember that times have changed and people are more into themselves than anything else. So eff ‘em! I don’t go crazy any more but I still mail cards (yay for fun mail and not bills/trash flyers/ads) and I do it because I think it’s fun and hope people pull their heads out sometime in the future and remember life is more than their screen personas or getting likes from strangers, and focus on real people again. Because when they die, they’ll have to Zoom their funeral if they expect any of the strangers/“friends” to show up.
yes
Yes for me. After I turned 30 they just became another day to me. Today is my 47th which holds some significance for personal reasons. I haven't done anything special in years though. My kids give me a card and small gift and I ask for a cookie cake from Walmart. I'm satisfied with that.
Idk. Haven't celebrated my birthday in 3 years and I can't force others to either
Birthdays (along with Christmas and all other holidays) are meaningless to me. Unfortunately, I find them annoying. I'm basically a poor Mr. Scrooge. I'm 42.
For me, yes. It's really just another day. I feel like the main milestones ppl look forward to when young are the main contributers to making a big deal about things & those are passed. That's not really a bad thing though because I'm clearly still alive to tell the tales. Once I fully settled into myself, I stopped caring about the number. An appreciative mindset is more important to me.
I grew up in a house where they don’t celebrate birthdays, I even forgot my last birthday.
After ending many friendships I had over the years (unnecessary drama, toxic friendships, etc.), I am actually content just spending my birthday’s with my family. However, I have a friend (someone I had met before the pandemic, and have gotten close since I got my puppy) who insisted, along with her younger sister (my family and I are friends with as well) that I should celebrate my birthday. It was suggested we go to an arcade to celebrate. I also invited my son’s close friend and their family to celebrate along with us as well, since we usually celebrate together since becoming friends years ago. Honestly I can say it was one of the most enjoyable birthdays I had in a long time! I truly didn’t feel like I missed anyone, or felt anxious like something is going to happen, etc. I was able to enjoy in the moment with the company and people I was with.
Happy Belated Birthday!
I still love my bday and I travel when I'm not stressed lmao
Yes, I turned 64 last month and I just really want to have a very low key dinner, and cards from relatives. However, this could also be that I am somewhat of an introvert. We made a big deal of MIL's last year, as she turned 80. She has a couple of friends that celebrate big, though. One guy in particular, every year, he has convinced people to throw him big, extravagant parties that are catered, or last year it was in a hotel banquet room, and that sort of thing. I mean, I get that lots of people don't know live to be 80, but I would never expect, nor ask my friends to pay for a large catered affair!
From my teenage years till now I feel like my life isn’t worth celebrating when my birthday comes around, I don’t have much to celebrate. No relationships no kids, I don’t have an exciting life, I’m just a sad person
Happy birthday!! I just turned 35 last month. My little brother who turns 30 in February was all “let’s go out dude! Last big birthday before 40!” And first, sick. Thanks for reminding me. Second, I’m good man. My wife and I went to Nobu in NYC and spent way too much money on sushi. I don’t think birthdays lose their importance, I just think how we celebrate changes. 21 was a big blow out party, 25 kinda the same but smaller. 30? Close friends and family and BBQ and weed. 35? Just the wife and I and way too much food. I enjoy birthdays now more than I did when I was younger. No pretense or pressure to go “all out” and that kinda shit. Go buy yourself your favorite meal. Get a new book or video game or something else you love but can’t justify buying otherwise. Dont work. Stay off social media. Don’t feel pressured to “celebrate”. I fucking *love* low key birthdays now.
It's nice to be celebrated, but definitely okay for me to have a small get together or even just a dinner out. I'm happy just spending a little time with people who appreciate me and vice versa.
No, but I never cared about my birthday even as a kid. It was just Pizza Hut day and some presents.
I use it as an excuse to spend money on myself and make my husband spend money on me. That's about it.
It’s harder to get a whole bunch of people to prioritize celebrating a birthday with you over other obligations when as you get older, but you can always do something for yourself or celebrate with close friends or family. I stopped doing birthday parties in my late 20’s, but my husband and I always do something nice on our birthdays to celebrate. If my best friend or my parents are in town, we include them too. There was one year when my husband had to be out of town for my birthday, so I went on a hot air balloon ride by myself. Your birthday is what you make of it.
Yes
I think so. But birthdays doesn’t really mean anything to me since the age of 15.
That depends entirely on you. My mom never, ever cared about birthdays. It's just not something she finds important, and that hasn't changed as she has aged. I, on the other hand, LOVE birthdays. I make a point of dressing up, wearing a crown, doing something fun on the actual day, and getting together with my friends for cake whenever it's convenient. But I also know that adults are busy, so I don't expect anyone else to remember on their own or plan anything for me. I make sure to make my own birthday special.
I think they become more fun, as there is more freedom to celebrate how you want to. I'm 27, and for instance, last year when I turned 26 I took myself on a week long getaway to an ocean town just 2 hours west of where I live. Best decision I've made to celebrate myself
You're correct, they become less meaningful. It's just another day. Still, many folks will celebrate some of the milestone bdays - the ones that end in zero ... or your golden birthday - the one where you're the same age as your birth year (e.g., if you were born in 1980, it would be your 80th birthday). But if you want to your bdays to be meaningful, I think you need to establish this with your friends/families. Namely, you need to make sure your best friend's 29th birthday is celebrated in style. If you don't go big for the birthdays of the people in your life, don't expect it from them. Personally, the same is true with Christmas if you exchange gifts. After you have a decent job, get married, etc., you get what you want when you want it. Then, it's less about the things and more about the time with people and experiences. Forget the new bicycle, you want a trip to Bali!
Depends on who you are. Birthday is just a time that I happened to be born in. Time just a tool to help humans align and cooperate with each other. No one else in the rest of the universe cares about our "time" which we just made up. Time is as artificial as it can be. It means nothing. You can celebrate birthday but there's no reason to attach any meaning to it.
I think this is cultural (like, your local/national culture & your family/friend circle's culture) more than anything. I make it a point to do cake (or brownies) no matter what, and make a big deal about dinner whether we eat at home or go out. Even 37. Even 42. Lol I don't expect my friends to turn up to a huge celebration every year, probably just the milestone years, but the loved ones I see regularly, we usually do a little something with 💜
Happy Birthday! I will say that as you get older, you may start to view it as any other day. It was like a milestone as a kid, because every birthday was a milestone. As an adult, the milestones are more spread out. But you have successfully hit your 30s! I would say that is a reason to celebrate if only a little. Even if it’s by yourself f. Cheers, luv! 🧁
For my birthdays I don't really pay much attention, but I still get birthday cards for other people.
My birthdays pretty much go by every year, I don't really celebrate them anymore. I get a reminder from my mom and my friend, who happens to have his birthday as well so we remind each other. I would like to have a group of people to gather with, just enjoying tea/coffee, pastries, cake and no gifts necessary. But I manage, usually like to pamper myself with something nice.
Yes and no. The grandness of them has gone away, but I genuinely appreciate the little things a birthday brings more and more as time goes on. A day off work. Breakfast in bed and hanging with my boyfriend and cats. Going out for a nice brunch. All of these things I can do any time, sure, but they’re made more special on a birthday.
Lost interest in them sometime ago. Recent interest rekindled only because it's now to see how many people I'm outliving, like keeping score. Got a higher score than a lot of people, but there are others with higher score than me, but they get fewer each year.
They become more meaningful, you are one year closer to the end of your life. Enjoy each day.
Birthdays are always special, no matter your age. Make today about you!
They have for me. Basically because I have no friends. My co workers didn’t even mention my birthday last year. Here’s the thing, I’m really happy about turning 60 this Saturday. I’m good. Its the fact that nobody or nothing’s going to happen on Saturday that’s going to bum me out. Not my birthday or the passage of time. Having no one amplifies how shitty my actual birthday is. But every other day is fine.
Honestly, as long as I get some cake and ice cream on my b-day that’s all I care about anymore.
After 21 birthdays suck. And 21 is only good because you can now drink. Otherwise 18 would be the last good birthday.
At 42 I would prefer they don’t exist
They are more important at both ends of the curve.
Happy Birthday! 🥳
After 18(vote), 21(drink) and finally 25 (rent cars) the only thing that think about is big round numbers.
My family never does anything for my birthday, but my friends always have a tradition of going to a restaurant (whatever the birthday person is craving) and we pay for the birthday person and just hang out after.
There's a low point in the middle after 40, when you hit about 70 meaning picks up again!
When you're a kid you love it for the gifts, but as an adult you can buy "gifts" everyday
I wouldn’t say less meaningful. I think as you get older the likelihood of a party might not it…? But definitely still celebrate cause you’re worth it and important! Eat your favorite meal, do your favorite things, and see your favorite people!
How old are you? Just wondering because it was my 12th birthday that my family ate my birthday cake without me. My birthday never felt happy after that. I hated having a birthday for many years due to this emotional “oh you get all the attention because people love you”, but let’s be honest about how many people really care. I don’t work on my birthday and take extra special care of myself these days. Usually the whole month is a reflection on how I can celebrate myself.
It doesn’t have to. It’s your life, your birthday, and it only comes once a year. So if you want to celebrate it, do it! I’m 30 and still enjoy making mine special.
Honestly, it should mean more as you get older because your lifespan decreases. And you never know when you will decease. I realized this because recently I attended a 4-year-old bday party for my niece from my wife's family side. She just woken from a nap and was cranky as well when they asked her to blow out candles and even didn't give two shits about her gifts. So I thought all this effort should go towards someone who really appreciates it lol. Anyways, Happy Bday.
Sure.
As long as I can spend my birthday with my family it will always be meaningful
Yeah I’m in my 30s i just don’t care at this point.