What are your birthday traditions?
January is a big month for birthdays in our household, which got me thinking about birthday traditions…
When our family sings Happy Birthday, we always end the song with three cheers. Someone calls out ‘hip, hip’ three times, and everyone else responds with ‘hooray’. We like to add on an extra cheer, finishing with ‘and one for luck…hip, hip…hooray’. There’s no rule for who gets to shout ‘hip, hip’. And we don’t ever decide in advance who will do it. But without fail, someone jumps in at just the right moment.
Giving three cheers (or four, in our case) is a common custom in Britain and Australia, but it’s unheard of in America. Likewise, you can wish someone an early happy birthday in England, but it’s terrible birthday etiquette to do that in other countries.
I lived in Germany for four years and shortly after moving, I made the mistake of wishing a friend a happy birthday the day before their actual birthday. I was met with a look of horror. It turned out that it’s considered bad luck to celebrate early.
Do you have any birthday traditions? Or can you remember a fun custom from your childhood? One year at primary school, the teacher would spin you around in their desk chair on your birthday. The rest of the class shouted out the number of turns until they reached your age!
(Photo of me on my second birthday.)
