How does it feel to only be celebrated once in 4 years?  Or how does it feel to be told “Happy Birthday” once in every four years.  That’s the story of leap babies. They are not celebrated except on a leap year when the month of February miraculously gets 29 days.

A leap year is also known as an intercalary year or bissextile year.  It is a calendar year that contains an additional day in the month of February to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical year.

The anniversary of the day in which one is born also known as a birthday is often treated as a day for celebration and the giving of gifts. Almost everyone looks forward to their birthdays except of course those who do not believe in celebrating birthdays such as Jehovah’s witnesses.

So let’s face it, if you believe in celebrating birthdays but cannot celebrate yours every year simply because that day of the year in which you were born is absent the next year after your birth and for the next 3 years until the 4^th year. It means you are a leap child and that’s the story of Tola Okafor who gets to be celebrated once in every 4 years.

When asked she said “She feels special because it’s once in every 4 years that she is celebrated.” So it’s almost like her birthday starts from the first of the leap year to the last of the leap year. It’s like a yearlong celebration for her, because she keeps getting phone calls and messages from friends and acquaintances reminding her of her birthday. As a child, she couldn’t understand why her birthdays were not celebrated on a yearly basis and it was hurtful. But as an adult, she understands better and don’t do anything special on the non-leap years. However, her family always celebrates her on those non-leap years. And the lack of her birthdate on the calendar has not deterred her friends from wishing her a happy birthday either on the 28th day of February or 1st day of march.

Are you a leap child? How do you celebrate your non-leap year birthdays? Do you perch on the 28^th day of February or do you adopt the 1^st of March for your birthday when February lacks a 29^th day?  This is in honour of all the leap year children and babies worldwide.

We would like to hear from you.

Happy Birthday in advance until the next leap year – 2024.

Cheers!