TOPEKA (KSNT) – Leap day comes around once every four years. To many people, it’s just another day, but for some Kansans, it’s much more.

Most of us have a birthday once a year, but leap day babies have to wait 1,460 days between them. A 27 News reporter asked some northeast Kansas “leaplings”, the term given to those born on leap day, how they feel about the rare birthday.

Laura Schwinn, an Emporia teacher, says it’s not what you might expect.

“People think would be a bad birthday, but I think it’s unique I think it’s something that not a lot of people know very many people that have a birthday on the 29th,” Schwinn said, “so it’s celebrated more when we actually have a birthday and you still get to celebrate when you don’t have an actual birthday.”

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Schwinn is one of three leaplings in her family. She has a cousin who was born in 2016, and she says she was a surprise for her great grandmother, who was born on leap day in 1896.

“When I was born on her birthday, I was her birthday present,” Schwinn said.

Kaia Schmit, a Manhattan middle schooler, is turning three this leap year, and says it’s pretty fun.

“If people guess my age, I can always say ‘nope, you’re wrong!’ even if they get it right, because I can always just be talking about my other one,” Schmit said.

Ethan Conner is a Rossville second grader. He says the special birthday makes him happy his parents have a special shirt made and he even shared his favorite part of turning one. Four years ago.

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“I smashed my face in my cake,” he said.

And he’s not the only one. Kaia’s mom, Tammy, made an annual tradition of the “cake smash”.
She says they’re extra special on leap years – like the one four years ago.

“I made up a bunch of cupcakes with baseball stripes on them and gave her a baseball bat and pitched the cupcakes to her, and she was licking the frosting off of the bat,” Tammy said.

Regardless of their plans, all the leaplings say it’s extra special when Feb. 29 rolls around. And they all agreed that good things come to those who wait.

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