counting birthdays

happy (26th) birthday, nick!

Because math, in so many ways, in grounded in counting, I spend a lot of time thinking about how we quantify things in our lives. I've also been thinking a lot about birthdays recently, as I find myself surrounded by many friends and family members who were born in this tenth month.

What has always bothered me most is that a person can truly have only one birthday, to be celebrated on the day of one's birth. Everything that comes after represents an anniversary of one's birth day. But this is a minor point, an argument that I concede I will never win.

The argument I will win, however, is the following: We almost always incorrectly count birthdays. For example, the date on which one turns 25 is actually one's 26th birthday! But look at the Hallmark cards that arrive in the mailbox and at the writing on the cake and they will all say "Happy 25th Birthday!" Has anyone ever looked at these and said, "Hm... These are a year late."