A dad and son in California are looking forward to celebrating their birthdays Monday, Feb. 29. Officially, the dad is turning 15 year sold, while the son is turning 5, and the chances of having both parent and child born on a Leap Year were slim.
Fred Shekoufeh from Iran, who is 60 in the normal calendar, didn't think he had a special birthdate until he immigrated to the United States in 1979 and an immigration official commented about it. He admits that the date is confusing, but he has since celebrated his birthday "when he can," according to Huffington Post.
In 1996, his former wife went into labor as he was celebrating his 10th birthday at the hospital. "When the doctor found that out, she said, "I will try to bring that baby out so it can share your birthday," he said.
Eric Shekoufeh, now 20 and studying in UCLA, finds his unique bond with his dad "pretty incredible," but he does contend with a lot of jokes. When he turned "4" in 2012, he got his student license at the California DMV. "Everyone and their mother made a joke about me turning four, and that four-year-olds shouldn't be able to drive cars. Well, evidently I could," he said.
"Legally, I should be able to drink," he added. "But I'm expecting a bouncer to look at my license and tell me it's a fake."
Leap Year happens every four years when an extra day is added to the Gregorian calendar. On this year, the earth orbits around the sun at 365.2422 days and the added day is important lest the calendar goes off by five hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds every year, according to the Almanac. The chances of a parent and child celebrating the same Leap Year birthday is one in 2.1 million, according to Time.
Meanwhile, some Leap Year babies celebrate two birthdays on a normal calendar year, stretching this between Feb. 28 and March 1. However, they're likely to do a very special celebration on their actual birthday this year.
"I normally celebrate my leap year birthdays by having a party in the style of the age that I'm turning. In this case, 8. Last time, we had a bouncy castle with lawn games, balloons and streamers and all behaved like we were 7 years old," said Peter Cambpell via NPR.
"This year, since I'll be turning 6, I'm having a '90s-themed party at a roller rink. You have to go big because you only get a birthday every four years," said Emily Clayton in the same report.
