S/o birthdays--how many do you remember?

[maize]

Just for fun; I imagine this varies a lot depending on factors such as how many close family and friends you have, how easy birthdays are for you to remember, and how important remembering birthdays is to you personally.

Dh and I both come from large families--I counted up when reading the other thread and just our siblings and their spouses is 32 people--that would be a lot of birthdays to remember, and then of course there are our parents, our children, and dozens of nieces and nephews. Definitely a rely on a list not memory situation for me.

ETA to clarify I don't mean how many people do you make sure to acknowledge the birthday of, I mean how many people's birthdays do you have memorized. I'm thinking of people in your life, not celebrities and such. Family and friends.

Edited August 25, 2018 by maize

[happypamama]

I'm just going to guess 50+.  I'm stupidly good at remembering that kind of thing.  Can I remember where I put my sunglasses?  Nope.

 

(But my extended family, both DH's and mine, is more than 30 people.  My crew is 9 people alone, counting the baby.  Add some grandparents, friends, etc., and yeah.  That's 50 easily.)

[Hannah]

It was important to me when I was a teenager, so I remember dates I memorized then, but there are about 15 living now.  My siblings, cousins, aunt and uncle, etc. 

[Garga]

Husband
DS15
DS13
MIL
FIL
Mother
Father
Aunt

I’m assuming that by “remembering” you mean that you somehow keep track of the date and then take some sort of action on that date.  I’m not assuming that you mean that you literally remember the date, like remembering a historical fact (Signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.).  I do remember my best friend’s birthday from high school, because it’s the same date as the prom in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and for some reason that made it stick in my mind.  (Bill and Ted’s was our favorite movie when we were teens. And, no, there was no prom scene in the movie, but when they go into the auditorium for their report, there’s a banner on the side of the building with the prom date.)

So, with that said ,for the above people, we will get a card or present without prompting.  I make sure to put the birthdate on the calendar and will also put on the calendar a few days ahead of time, “Buy card/present for X.”  Since it’s only those 8 people, I do have the dates mostly memorized.  I know my MIL’s birthday is in January and my FIL’s is in July, but sometimes I forget the exact date.

For everyone else, I don’t plan anything for their birthday or buy them cards or anything.  Facebook will tell you when it’s someone’s birthday, but often I don’t respond to FB’s prompts. It’s always a surprise when FB says, “It’s so-and-so’s birthday!” Because I never remember the dates for anyone’s birthday (except the above list.)

The above list are almost all of the family that live near me.  I have a BIL, SIL, and nephews, but we only see them a couple of times a year.  And before I married, the only family I lived near was my mom and dad, so there is no extended family for me.

 

ETA: The op did mean how many birth dates do you memorize.  For me, it’s 7. But again—small family.

Edited August 26, 2018 by Garga

[JustEm]

Dh, my 5 kids, my parents, my 6 siblings, my best friend, one of dh's sisters, 2 sil, 3 of my 18 niece's and nephew's. Oh and my dogs. So 21.

[Selkie]

I'm terrible at remembering dates. The only birthdays I have memorized are:

• dh's
• our three kids
• our dads (moms are both deceased)
• my one surviving sibling
• one of dh's siblings (birthday is on a holiday, so I remember that one)

So eight total...this is why I need a planner to keep myself organized!

[AmandaVT]

I remember a lot of birthdays and old phone numbers. I'd guess 50+ birthdays. For some reason, I still have all of my high school friends birthdays in my head along with everyone in my family and DH's family and my current friends. I also do the credentialing at my office, so I have at least 10 therapists birthdays in my head too along with a smattering of client birthdays since I'm the one checking on insurance eligibility most of the time as well.

I couldn't remember what the refrigerator was called the other day though and called it the box that keeps things cold.... ?

[maize]

My meaning was "how many dates do you keep in your head", not "how many do you celebrate/send a card etc."

[maize]

1 hour ago, Arctic Mama said:

Without flipping through my iCal? My parental sets, husband, and kids.  My brother. That’s pretty much it.  So, twelve?  

 

Some days I get confused on number 4’s birthday day.  She squeaked by the day after we thought she would and it forever throws me off, mentally.

 

It's funny, I voted 10-19 myself then realized I had forgotten to count my own kids, which puts me well over twenty. I hate it whenever I have to tell someone a child's birthday (at the doctor and such) because it always takes me a minute to pull up the correct date and year for a particular child. I have to close my eyes to remember most of the time.

[historically accurate]

I voted 10-19.

Mine - I share my birthday with 3 family members/friends, but I didn't count them.

DH

3 kids

3 nieces/nephews

Mom

Mother-in-law

brother

2-4 friends - 2 off the top of my head, but if pressed I could probably come up with some more

2 aunts

I can't remember most of my in-laws (they're all in Jan/Feb, but I don't remember exact dates). I also have no clue when my uncles' birthdays are.

[lavender's green]

I said 10-19, but the more I think about it, the more I remember all the odd birthdays that I wouldn't otherwise think about. Cinco de Mayo, Valentine's, Groundhog day, Friday the 13th, my mom's twin, the cousin born exactly two months after me, my childhood friend whose birthday is my half birthday and vice versa. Probably 20ish.

[73349]

Let's see.

DH, DS, 3 in DH's family, 4 parents/spouses, 4 half-siblings, 4 aunts, 1 cousin for sure and another I know it's one of two days, grandmother, my 4 closest friends + 1 spouse (and could make a close guess on another), DN, one parent's ex (but no longer in touch), one former co-worker because it's the same as an aforementioned friend. I'll count all 28 but stop racking my brain for more now.

[SKL]

I'm actually relatively good at this also.  Which is weird, since I suck at remembering names and faces.

I still remember the birth dates of the kids I babysat when I was 13 - though they never included me in any birthday festivities.  Also several random kids I knew when I was in primary school.  I also remember the birthdays of about half of my kids' classmates.

My own family and close friends easily push me over the 50 mark.

(ETA I realized that I answered the poll wrong, but I don't see how to change my answer.)

Edited August 26, 2018 by SKL

[J-rap]

Well, I first counted just those I actually do something about.  We're not a big birthday family (except for closest family members), so although I could tell you my in-laws' birthday month and might help celebrate a special milestone birthday, I generally don't remember the day nor do we generally send anything (and they wouldn't expect anything either).  But then I remembered that I actually do remember about 20 childhood friends' birthdays...

[Arcadia]

I can remember birthdates but not names. So I can remember a classmate’s birthdate but forgot her/his name. I might say I have a friend born on Labor Day and describe how she looks like and a schoolmate would tell me what the person’s name is.

[fairfarmhand]

Husband and kids.

my dad and brothers

i can’t remember in laws or even friends. I do manage to remember the month most of the time but the exact date? Never.

[maize]

7 hours ago, J-rap said:

Well, I first counted just those I actually do something about.  We're not a big birthday family (except for closest family members), so although I could tell you my in-laws' birthday month and might help celebrate a special milestone birthday, I generally don't remember the day nor do we generally send anything (and they wouldn't expect anything either).  But then I remembered that I actually do remember about 20 childhood friends' birthdays...

 

It's astonishing how long-lived memories laid down in childhood are isn't it?

I remember random stuff that would never make it into long term memory in adulthood.