Wheaton’s Way: Celebrating birthdays
It was a big birthday for my niece this week; or maybe I should say it was a ‘significant’ birthday.
Is that more politically correct? Does it even apply when it comes to birthdays? Who can keep up …
Anyhoo, we all went around to her place to celebrate it with her, handing over a heftier haul of gifts than usual because this number needed to be recognised.
Depending on where you’re from or your religion, the importance of certain birthdays changes. For Jewish children, their bat mitzvah (girls) and bar mitzvah (boys) is significant milestone. For girls, it can be at the age of 12 or 13 and for boys, it is 13. It is a rite of passage that essentially states they are responsible for their own actions from then on. For a more complete summary of the story, please see the below link:
Published on: Jun 12, 2026 09:05 PM