Why is the 40th Birthday made a big thing of ?
How did you spend your 40th birthday , was it just like any other day , or did you celebrate big time ?
Never really held a great deal with birthdays. My wife arranged a small surprise party, funny birthday cake, a few drinks etc. It wasn’t much more than that, beyond a normal day. This also was the case with my 50th and 60th.
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It’s not just 40 is it?
It’s any birthday with a zero or five at the end.
Drives me nuts! 
I remember my 40th - Mr B bought me a camcorder, which was very exciting all those years ago! We have lots of videos that we now can’t watch because they’re all on VHS. Well we do have a VHS player stashed away somewhere but, you know, the fuss and bother of getting it rigged up and then finding the tapes. They’re probably all damp and unplayable now anyway. Should have had them transferred to DVD years ago.
I remember Mr B’s 40th too, a few years before mine - for one reason alone: our Dalmatian ate the two candles on his cake, a 4 and an 0. Well, they had bits of cake stuck on them so to her addled brain that meant they were edible. She didn’t even end up with a dicky tummy. Tough as old boots, that one 
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so funny your dog eating the candles, the candle might have been made of fat so no harm done,what a sight though
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It was hilarious Eliza - the kids were only 11 and 12 at the time and they were convulsed with laughter. Fortunately, she ate them after the ceremonial lighting and blowing out!
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one to pass down the generations ,when at Parties. 
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I didn’t know 40th birthdays were made a big thing of - have I been missing out on “party rights”? -
Doh! nobody told me!
I have only had 1 Birthday Party in my whole life.
Some of my siblings and a nephew who managed a hotel arranged for my whole family to attend a family weekend in Lincoln to celebrate my 60th Birthday - as I am the youngest of 8 children, we have a lot of adult children and grandchildren between us and young great grandchildren, in addition to my step-kids and long term foster kids and their kids, so we have a very large family!
We needed the whole weekend to make sure we all got to catch up with each other in small groups at a time, as well as the main celebration Birthday lunch.
I’ve never been much of a party animal but I did enjoy that particular party weekend - it was so lovely to have all my family gathered all together in one place at the same time - it may never happen again in my lifetime, so I made the most of it!
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thank goodness for family photo albums!
I’ll go and have a look…
Here we are, you can just make out 4 candles!
We were at my mum and dad’s for the weekend I imagine
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@Boot
wow youngest of 8 beats me , I was third child of 6 never had a Birthday party , my mum said there was already enough of us, to cater for … .Not even a card, It was when I got to 60 that I decided to Celebrate , and so I took myself off to Scotland for the weekend and paid for my Daughter to be there with me …
We went on a Ghost tour ,which was my treat to myself too …
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It was so long ago I’d forgotten it…
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[quote=“Eliza, post:14, topic:91890, full:true”]
haha @Besoeker was there a more recent one that can you remember ?[/quote]
Yes, as it happens - 75 it was. My wife suggested that we go for lunch. When we got there I got a surprise. My kids, their partners, and the grand kids were all there. Lots of pressies too.
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No I never had a 40th birthday party or any other age for that matter. I was an only child with only one unmarried cousin. As Tony & I were self employed neither of us had any workmates. I wouldnt have been able to fill a room.
Instead, on zero birthdays we went out for a meal with friends. As we got older the family grew and suddenly there was a lot of us. Nowadays for Tonys or mine birthdays we have a family gathering at a local pub/restaurant - children - grandchildren & great grandchildren. At the last cound there was 18 of us which was nice…
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@carol ,I use to invite a whole lot of children who lived in the avenue to my daughters birthday , she was an only child up unto she was almost 17 , it use to go down with a bang , Always a sort of last minute thing .
I know you have big get togethers at Christmas too , which makes up for Birthday that was missed in the past . 
No i didnt have a 40th party,my mom asked me if i was having one and i said no chance as i dont like partys. Ironicaly,mom passed away before my 40th,so i was glad i said i wasnt having one,as daft as that may seem.
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Didn’t have a 40th but I did have a 50th at my house it was brilliant fun and a very memorable night . I’ll see if I can find the pictures
I remember my dog at the time Kodi took a liking to one of my friends bare feet through her open toed sandals. Poor lass was embarrasses but it was so comical I couldn’t help but laugh my head off hehe im chuckling at the memory.
How I fitted all those people in my small house I’ve no idea…there were bodies everywhere, living room, kitchen, conservatory and spilled put on to the patio. We only have one toilet too!
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