
Lynden’s dad always told him he was special in a very unique way.
Each February, in fact, his dad would always remind him, “You’re my Lynden ‘Leapling’ — my special little boy born on Leap Day.”
Lynden knew that his real birthday, February 29, was unusual. But, why?
As a little kid, he never thought to ask what he meant. But, now turning 10 years old, Lynden decided it was time to figure out why being born on “Leap Day” was a big deal.
So many unanswered questions swirled in Lynden’s head:
Why did his actual birth date only come around once every four years?
Why did his family act like he was born on February 28 for the last three years?
Determined to do some “Leap Year” learning of his own, Lynden asked his dad everything he’d been wondering. In his typical funny-yet-informative way, his dad stepped him through the ins and outs of this extra special day of the year.
“Well, son, Leap Day – your birthday, February 29 – is, indeed, special. This date only comes around once every four years. That doesn’t mean that we only celebrate your birthday every fourth year, though. Imagine having only two parties after 10 years. That wouldn’t be fair!”
Lynden and his dad laughed, “Yep, Leap Day seems weird and obscure, but it happens for a very scientific reason. How many days are in a year, Lynden?”
“Duh, Dad – 365 days! How do you NOT know that?” Lynden snickered at his father’s ignorance.
“Nope. There are actually 365.25 days in a year. There is an extra one-fourth of a day each year,” Dad smirked back.
“Really?” Lynden was dumbfounded.
“Yep, the fourth one-fourth day is Leap Day – an entire day created by fractions of days from the three years before. In 2024, and every four years for the rest of your life, there will be 366 days during each Leap Year.”
Lynden was not fully satisfied, “But, Dad, why does it matter? So, there are 365.25 days each year. Why can’t we just have the extra fourth of a day added at the end of each year?”
“Great question,” Dad perked up, ready to dive deeper into his reservoir of generally useless information. “It doesn’t really matter – until it does. If you add days to every year, after lots and lots of years, the calendar gets out of sync with the seasons. After 100 years of doing this, the months and seasons would be about a month off. After 200 years, when I’m really old, February’s snow could be falling in June, and we’d enjoy the fall foliage during Christmas time. Sledding in August – that just isn’t right!”
Lynden finally understood. Well, except for one thing.
“Dad, why do you call me your ‘Leapling’?”
“That’s what a person born on February 29th is called. You belong to an exclusive club. You’re one of about five million people alive today.”
Finally, Lynden got it.
He knows what Leap Day is.
He knows why Leap Year exists.
Indeed, Lynden felt special.
Armed with all this new Leap Year information, Lynden couldn’t wait to get to school and tell his buddies all about being a ‘Leapling’.
He was sure his friends would be impressed.
To them, Lynden would be the smartest person in the world.
Just like his dad was to him.
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