The Pros & Cons Of Having A Birthday Near A Holiday

In some cases, having your birthday near a holiday works in your favor. Not always though.

My birthday just passed and, I must admit, being born the day before the 4th of July has always been kinda cool. Retailers put all the beer and grilling supplies on sale, it falls in the heart of bikini season and half the Borderland sets off fireworks.

We even used to have a party downtown with tons of local and national bands, vendors and a HUGE fireworks show that I called the "Dubba G Birthday Extravaganza" (I called it that, everyone else referred to it as the El Paso Downtown Street Festival.) Being that many friends and family were out of school, on vacation or at least had the 4th itself off, my birthday has always rocked.

The same can be said for those whose birthdays fall around the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. Birthdays on or around Super Bowl Sunday get an extra party vibe as well. Same great deals on bbq stuff and beer, along with skimpy attire and pool parties. Around here, even Super Bowl Sunday occasionally comes with the summer time benefits. While Super Bowl Monday isn't a true holiday, bosses almost expect employees to call in sick or show up half dead that day so, the party mood holds up well.

I guess tying any holiday to a birthday party makes them more exciting ... except Christmas. If you're even within a month of Christmas, you can expect your gift count to take a hit. Depending on how close your birthday comes to Christmas day, (while also taking into account how many siblings you have), you may even face the dreaded "one or the other" ultimatum.

When it comes to gifts, if you're a twin, triplet or share your birthday with a cousin; you're pretty much hosed.

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