My Dad travelled for work nearly every week when I was a kid. And I was born at a time of year that was vey busy for his industry, so trips could not be cancelled or postponed. As a result he missed all but 3 of my birthdays my entire childhood. And except for rare occassions (when I was being manipulative), it did not bother me at all becuase that's just how things were. We celebrated on other days, usually the following weekend.
Even now with DS, DH and I don't put a lot of emphasis on the exact day itself. Instead we spread the celebration out: one day with some relatives, another day with others, a day for just DH, DS, and me. We think it's more fun that way and it's definately less stressful on DS.
Gena
DS, age 11 and always amazing
“Autistics are the ultimate square pegs, and the problem with pounding a square peg into a round hole is not that the hammering is hard work. It's that you're destroying the peg." - Paul Collins, Not Even Wrong