Fall Birthdays Are The BEST!

Having a birthday in the Fall is the best. Everyone enjoys celebrating their own birthdays. There are some that don't, and that is okay. We still get to eat their cake. It is an entire day that celebrates YOU! Cake, presents, and parties! It is wonderful, but there is something magical about having it in the Fall.

First of all this post is totally biased as my birthday is in November. Even if it weren't I would be totally jealous of all the birthdays in the Fall. Anyway, here are three reasons why fall birthdays are the best.

1. Football

Football is America's sport, and every single weekend is packed with Football. High School football on Friday night with college football taking over most television networks on Saturday, then the NFL playing all day Sunday. Having your birthday on a football weekend makes it a whole lot easier to plan a party. It might be the worst birthday ever if your team loses, but remember the day is about you and not the team.

2. The Change of Seasons

Fall can be one of the most beautiful times of the year. Nature truly transcends all beauty as the fall leaves emerge in their beautiful displays of oranges, reds and yellows. It is as if Mother Nature, in her tender voice, is saying "My Dear, I know it's your birthday so I decided to light some birthday candles of my own. But don't try and blow them out. You'll probably pass out." Even she cares about you on your birthday. 

3. It is during the same time as Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Birthdays in October, November, and December have special privileges to be in the same time as these most popular holidays. Not only is there a celebration of you, but there are the bags of candy and costume parties coupled with Halloween. Sometimes (depending on how much self-control you have) that candy will last until the fourth week of November to stuff your faces with as much food as possible for Thanksgiving. Then the Christmas season is in full swing with all the Christmas lights illuminating the dark nights with happiness. You can cozy up on the couch with a nice cup of hot chocolate and watch Christmas movies. There are so many other wonderful things about Christmas. It is definitely the most wonderful time of the year when your birthday is during one of these months. 

If you are planning a family and if you really want to make  your child's birthday the best, try to have them born during the fall. They will thank you for it later.

Birthday Smash!

When I came home from my mission, I wanted to start a birthday tradition that was unique to the time of year. I could have started by jumping in a pile of leaves every year. I don't know if you have ever jumped in a pile of leaves, but it hurts. When I watched cartoons as a kid, they showed children jumping and swimming in huge piles of leaves. What they don't show is the pain in the rear end and all the dirt that flies into your eyes. So that was out of the picture. I needed something different. Something like a piñata. But I don't like to be blindfolded and put in a circle with a bat trying to hit a cardboard box filled with candy. Honestly, it's public humiliation. But I do like the smashing idea.

I finally decided that every year on my birthday I would smash old Halloween pumpkins instead. There is no humiliation, just the sheer joy of smashing pumpkins with a baseball bat. The only difficult part is timing the carving of the pumpkin. If it is carved too early then it just becomes all soggy and mushy. When you hit a pumpkin like that, it is messy. Chunks of mold and fungus are sprayed everywhere. Just close your mouth and it's all good.

Yesterday, was the fourth year in a row that I have done this tradition. We had one little problem, though. We didn't have a bat. So I went to a thrift store to find one. With any thrift store you never know what type of people you are going to see there. After I found my choice of bat, I wanted to browse around and see if I could find some thrift store treasures. At first I felt awkward carrying a bat in a store. Maybe someone would speculate something. The more I thought about it, the more I felt safer. So I came to the conclusion that if you feel unsafe in a store and someone is following you, go to the sporting goods section and pick out a bat. Just carry it with you until you're done shopping. By then the threat would be gone. Anyway...

The birthday party was a smash. I had the privilege of hitting one of those moldy and mushy pumpkins, but I was smart to close my mouth. My wife and friends were the lucky ones who got a nice spray of old pumpkin. This is by far the best birthday tradition ever. Here is a video of my wife and I smashing her pumpkin. She carved Olaf, but that doesn't mean we don't like Frozen. She loves it in fact, and I am a proud hubby that she was willing to introduce Olaf to a baseball bat. Enjoy!