‘It’s the best day to be born’: Leapling mum born on February 29 celebrates 40th and 10th birthday all in one

A mother-of-two born on February 29, whose friends have thrown her kids’ parties and whose children joke they are older than her, is celebrating her 10th and 40th birthday all in one this year and said she would not swap her “unique” birth celebration for a regular one.

Ellie Charboneau, who lives near Pontefract in West Yorkshire, was born on February 29 1984, making her one of the rare “leaplings” who celebrate their official birthday once every four years.

In between, Ellie has chosen February 28 as her honorary birthday, but sometimes her friends have told her: “Well I’m not saying ‘Happy Birthday’ because it’s not your birthday.”

Even Ellie’s children – Harmony, 13, and Hunter, 15 – will “crack jokes” and say they are older than her, and other people have made humorous remarks over the years.

“When I would go to a bar – this is when I was younger – they would look at my ID and go, ‘Wait a minute, you’re not old enough to have this drink’,” Ellie told PA Real Life.

“Or other people would say, ‘You’re not old enough to drive, you’re not old enough to do this’.”

Ellie remembers her first leap year birthday, as she had a large number four cake, but her most memorable was her seventh and 28th in 2012 as her close friends arranged a “surprise little kids’ party” for her with balloons, jelly and ice cream, and party bags – followed up by a trip to Disneyland with her husband Dan, a 39-year-old former US marine.

While having a birthday on February 29 is “unusual”, Ellie said she would not change it or swap it to have regular yearly celebrations.

She said: “I would not change it at all. It’s an unusual birthday that not many people come across but I would not change it.

“It’s the best day to be born.”

To all her fellow “leaplings” this year, Ellie added: “I hope they have a fantastic birthday and get to celebrate it doing something that makes them really happy.

“We only get to do it every four years, and I think it’s something that needs to be celebrated, whether it be your 4th or your 10th, it’s just fun.”

Leap Day takes place on February 29, an extra day that is added to the Gregorian calendar around every four years, and the chance of being born on this date is often said to be one in 1,461.

This means Ellie’s leap birthdays over the years have been even more special, and she has recalled three memorable celebrations in particular.

The first was when she was 12, or three in leap years, in 1996, and her parents had arranged for her best friend to come to their family home.

They got dressed up and were told they were going “somewhere posh”, and then a large white limo pulled up outside.

“We all jumped into this limo, and we were just in awe,” Ellie said.

“There was a whiskey decanter, it was all lit up inside, and then we ended up going to Leeds and we went to this really fancy Italian restaurant.

“It was just so cool for us and, on the way home, we were doing the thing where you stand up outside the sunroof – it was just so fun.”

On another occasion, while Ellie was living in the USA with her husband Dan, their friends threw her a surprise “little kids birthday party” at a park on the morning of February 29.

This was to celebrate her seventh and 28th birthday in 2012, and she said “it was just perfect”.

“There were party hats, balloons, party poppers, jelly and ice cream, cake, juice in little kids’ cups, and all the snacks that you get at a little kids birthday party,” Ellie said.

“The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining, and we were all just outside in this playground and we stayed there for hours.”

To extend the celebrations in 2012, Ellie and her husband decided to visit Disneyland in California later that afternoon, as the resort had announced it would remain open for 24 hours to celebrate February 29.

They went for dinner at a New Orleans-themed restaurant in the Downtown Disney District area, but after this, disappointingly, the park was full to capacity and they could not enter.

The couple tried again the next day, and Ellie said it “turned out to be the best idea” as the park was virtually empty – and they even ended up seeing actress Sofia Vergara there.

“When we got to the park the next morning, there was nobody there. It was empty because everybody had been there all night, they’d all gone back to go to sleep,” Ellie explained.

“There were a few hardcore Disney fans still holding on, and apparently that night, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, all these celebrities had been in the park.

“There were no queues for any of the rides, it was fantastic, and then we thought, ‘What’s going on over there?’

“There was a crowd and they had this barrier up, so people were just standing there, watching something, and we went over and they were filming Modern Family.

“There’s a famous episode of Modern Family where they go to Disneyland, and we were there that day in the crowd – it was so cool.”

This year, Ellie will be going to Center Parcs at Sherwood Forest to celebrate her 10th leap birthday, and she said it feels strange to be turning “double digits” at 40.

Ellie hopes to one day meet another ‘leapling’ in person, but in the meantime, she is looking forward to celebrating with her family and friends and relaxing in the spa.

“I’ve never met somebody that’s not been interested by it, and if I’m ever asked for a fun fact, I usually share that one.

“It’s a great icebreaker,” Ellie said.

“It’s just unique and I’ve never met anybody that’s born on that day, and it does only come every four years.

“If you think about it, the way it works, it’s just odd.

“All of a sudden there’s an extra day in the year.

“But any time someone brings it up in conversation, they’re always amazed by it.

“It always tends to put a smile on somebody’s face.”