RABBI WEIN ON HALF BIRTHDAYS

I have long noted that when one speaks to small children and asks them their age they will often answer in terms of half birthdays. They will say that they are four and a half or five and a half years old. This is because when we are very young we are anxious to become older and to possess the enticing fruit of privileges granted to children as they advance in years. This idea of half birthdays begins to wane when children come close to the age of adolescence and by the time they become young adults it seemingly disappears completely.