There’s an old poem by Thomas Hood about November that paints the 11th month as a fairly gloomy one. Here’s a snippet:

“No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,

No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds,

November!”

Talk about depressing.

My birthday is in November, so it’s always been my favourite month. When I was little, whatever gifts I didn’t get for my birthday crossed neatly over to my Christmas wish list, and the influx of crisp five dollar bills in the mail from far-flung relatives helped line my bank account for the end of the year.

But as an adult, birthdays seem to have become less and less of a momentous occasion for me. Why – Because I don’t want the attention I craved as a child? Because I can’t afford big parties? Because I don’t want reminders that I’m getting older?

Aging doesn’t really bother me. In my head I’m still 27.  But when I look at pictures of me with my daughters when they were babies I think, “Who’s that young woman holding my child?”

I think one of the keys to feeling young-at-heart is to keep playing. That’s a theme we explore in our October issue, which includes our annual Toy Guide. And with technology being such a huge part of how kids and adults play, we’ve also included a feature on how to play safe online.