This is why it's a bad idea to use text entry for inputting dates. You really have no idea what format the user is following. What is "05-06-07", or "01-02-2006"? Use, e.g., drop-down selects for month, day, and year. Then you know exactly what is intended, with the bonus that you can then easily assemble the date parts into a db-compatible format, and/or your own preferred format for display, date artithmetic, php function use, etc.