In a stroke of desperation fueled genius, Kymberlee came up with a solution to the holiday/birthday problem. The holiday/birthday problem is when you have a birthday that is too close to a holiday that ends up trumping any celebration. This usually afflicts men, though there are exceptions, especially around Christmas.

My brother-in-law, bless his heart, has this problem as his birthday falls right around Mother’s Day. Guess who wins? It isn’t the dad.

My problem is that my birthday is too close to Valentine’s Day. When I hear the usual refrain from my wife, “What do you want to do for your birthday?”, I usually run and hide, knowing any response is worthless against the powerful god of St. Valentine. Because of the social pressure, our entertainment budget is always stretched thin in February, as men have no choice but to wine and dine the love of their life in order to prove their devotion.

So where would I want to go for my birthday on the $10 left over? The answer ended up being nowhere – stay home and throw a birthday breakfast on Valentine’s Day. As my wife wrote in the invite, “You know you have to eat breakfast. You know you have no plans for valentine’s MORNING.”

It worked great! Everyone brought their kids, I brewed many mugs of my home-roasted coffee, and we had delicious conversations about life while the fire roared.

The best part about this for me is that it was in the morning. Morning people are constantly asked to be alert and talkative at night when most parties occur, so it was a delight to have a party when I am naturally awake and alert!

I think we have found a successful formula and hope to make this a repeating event. Thanks to my lovely bride for coming up with a solution to this problem. Sometimes it is all about me!