Most people look forward to celebrating their birthday every year, but for some that special day only officially comes every four years. Annelie Kvisle is a North Shore Mum whose February 29th birthdate makes her a Leap Year baby. She reveals how her family go to great lengths to make that birthday extra special.
I was born on 29 February 1988, two weeks earlier than my due date – which was enough of a shock that I don’t think the fact I was born on a leap year hit my parents straight away!
From that day, my mum was always firm on celebrating my birthday on the 1st of March, which was meant to replace the 29th. But that meant I celebrated my birthday in March rather than February, so I always argued back that we should be celebrating on the 28th!
Needless to say, the dilemma has never been solved and 28 years later I’m still asked what day I’ll be celebrating, although these days, I guess I just pick whichever is most convenient or closer to a weekend!
I think the most fun part of being a leap year baby has been the themed birthday parties, my 20th birthday was only the 5th ‘real’ birthday so it had a Back to School theme, and for my 24th, or 6th birthday, my work colleagues gave me a fairy party.
Nowadays, my husband loves using it as an excuse for avoiding buying me gifts on non-leap years, however he always pays up. The most memorable though would have to be the colouring book and Textas he gave me for my 6th birthday!
This year, I will celebrate my 28th or 7th birthday, which will be a much more simple family dinner, contrary to previous years.
I’m sure my kids will love it when they pass my leap year age and can play on the idea that they’re older than me, I’m personally looking forward to reaching 84 years of age where I can once again celebrate my 21st!
I guess my advice for any mums that are due to deliver or end up delivering on the 29th February, 2016 would be to prepare yourself for many, many years of questions and confusion, but enjoy the uniqueness of it all!
What is a leap year?
A leap year is a year that has 366 days instead of 365, the extra day being added to February on the 29th.
Why do we need leap years?
Leap days occur once almost every four years and keep our calendar in time with the Earth’s revolutions around the Sun. Earth takes around 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds to orbit once around the Sun, so unless we add an extra day on February 29 nearly every four years, we would lose almost six hours every year. After 100 years, our calendar would be wrong by almost 24 days.