Every year I go through the same act, like I’m in this twisted play that everyone I love is watching and judging me for.
I hate my birthday.
I was born on April 1st at 9:22 am in the year 1996. For the last (almost) 20 years I’ve had to deal with these same responses when I tell others my birthday:
“Haha April Fools!”
“Wow, What a joke!”
Yeah. Super funny when a 6 year old has a birthday party and none of her friends show up because, “I thought she was just kidding? It’s really your daughter’s birthday?” says a Random Parent.
That happened to me so often my mother sent out copies of my birth certificate in my party invitations, then gave up and just had my birthday party conjoined with my younger brother on his birthday, April 24th… Almost a month after mine, that’s a long time for a child to wait for presents.
Not to mention every single year of my life my mother had to tell my siblings not to prank me on my birthday.
When I was in elementary school we had school on my birthday for the first time in years. I was in the 6th grade, an awful time for every child. My friends new it was my birthday and even after begging my mom, she forced me to go. At lunch my friends decided to prank me by announcing my birthday to the whole school and making me stand up. At the moment I played it off as my friends clapped and screamed “April Fools!”, however when I left lunch I went straight to the nurse’s office and cried. I asked her to call my mom and let me go home but she said I couldn’t because I wasn’t sick. I was sent back to class and throughout the whole day I tried my best to keep it together as the whole entire school played little pranks on me and laughed at me in the halls.
Luckily I didn’t have school on my birthday again until I turned 18, and by that point I just skipped cause I had a car.
I never told my friends that they made me cry, because they thought it was a “nice” prank. I regret that. I want EVERYONE to know that I cried on my 12th birthday because a whole school made fun of me.
The worst part of all of this is that I’m a nice, bubbly, funny person who loves everyone and tries to be everyone’s friend. That is why I’m pranked on my birthday. My friends think since I’m such an easy going person I’ll enjoy it. I don’t, I never have, and I never will. I want my birthday to be about me, like how any other person with a birthday on a random day gets.
Every year I pretend to love my birthday. I play the same game and react to the person saying “Haha April Fools!” with a smile and a forced laugh. I try to do birthday things like go out with friends and have dinner with my family and smile and make a big fuss about turning a year old. When secretly I repeat over and over in my head, “Please don’t prank me, please don’t prank me”.
I hate my birthday.
