Is/Was your birthday ever....

[dulcemariamar]

overshadowed by another holiday or event. Last week on the DEC 2012 BMB there was this huge post because one poster was complaining that their kid was going to get less presents because of having a December birthday.
And then other people said that even 4th of July can overshadow birthday.

So are you able to enjoy your birthday or does another holiday steal the spotlight?

[anna7602]

I have participated in many of these posts on the bump. They're ridiculous.

I have a December birthday. The holidays weren't such a big deal to share space with. in fact, I loved having a holiday season birthday. Going to see the lights and decorations at local department stores was part of my whole birthday celebration experience. It was also nice that I could sometimes ask for a combined huge gift to cover xmas & my birthday, like a dollhouse, that my parents wouldn't have bought me for just one event. Or 2 years ago when I asked one of my brothers for a slow cooker as a combo gift. I can get away with stuff like that in my family and I love it. Also, it was nice that far-flung relatives vaguely remembered my birthday because it was around the holidays. I am certain they wouldn't have kept track if it was at some other point during the year. But getting a shout out for my birthday on the family-directed Christmas card from 80-year-old Tia Yolanda was nice.

The only thing that kind of sucked about my birthday was in college when it fell right during reading or exam days. But my daughter will likely have the same issue with a mid-May birthday. May is hard, too, because I always have to coordinate her birthday party with a billion graduation and wedding celebrations. I think this would probably be the case with June & July birthdays. And in Europe, an August birthday feels like it would be disastrous. (I am already stressing that there will be no one around to celebrate DH's August birthday in Paris.)

I think it's hard to pick an "optimal" month to be born in, and again, I love having a December birthday.

[dorothyinAus]

Nope. My birthday is the end of August. Sometimes it's a Bank Holiday in the UK, but usually it's just another day.

My father's birthday is the day after Christmas and he has always said it's the worst possible day for a birthday. One time when we asked what he wanted for his birthday, he said "a whole new cake" because growing up he regularly got leftovers from Christmas dinner as his birthday meal.

My mother's birthday is New Year's Eve and she says it's the best birthday ever, because the whole world celebrates. The only downside is that most restaurants are packed, so we have always celebrated with an early dinner followed by a movie and a night at home, but Mom hates crowds.

So, yes, December birthdays do get overshadowed, but I think it gets worked out. My Dad's aunt switched birthdays with him once so they celebrated his birthday in July and he could experience the traditional kid birthday stuff.

[dulcemariamar]

My birthday is in January. I am not a big fan because I was usually sick on my birthday.

I always get a proper birthday but the problem is that after Christmas, you really don't know what to ask for. I think it would be cool to have a birthday in Spring/Summer so you don't have to go through long stretches without getting a gift.

[irish]

My birthday is the day before Halloween and my sister's is the day after Halloween! Yes, our kid birthday parties did have Halloween games in the mix and my sister's 30th (surprise) was a fancy dress party. One of my brother's has his birthday on 22nd Dec and another has his the same day as my mother! It's really hard to find birthday cards and birthday wrapping paper at Christmas though...

[anna7602]

Jun 14, 2012 4:55:30 GMT -5 dulcemariamar said:

My birthday is in January. I am not a big fan because I was usually sick on my birthday.

I always get a proper birthday but the problem is that after Christmas, you really don't know what to ask for. I think it would be cool to have a birthday in Spring/Summer so you don't have to go through long stretches without getting a gift.

It's all about the Saint's Day. Don't you celebrate these in Spain? Mine is July 26th, a very nice spacing with my December birthday. DD's is in September (we celebrate her middle name as her patron saint). It usually falls during the first week of school, so we have a big mommy-daughter day to evoke one last summer-ish day.

[popcorn]

Yeah, my birthday is January 1st so I've always had to share my party with a New Year's Eve party. I've always enjoyed it though. I always get my birthday off and there are fireworks all around the world just for me!

DD's birthday is Halloween and I hadn't even thought of if it might bother her. The worst thing about holiday-time birthdays is, when you're a kid, most of your friends are doing family stuff so you have to have your birthday party a different day/time. But that's not a big deal.

I think people worry about that a little too much.

[travelingturtle]

My birthday is the day after new year's and I think that is the worst birthday. Though I didn't get Christmas leftovers for food, by Jan. 2 people are done celebrating. It's the first day people just want to rest. Though I think it's a bad day for a birthday, it doesn't bother me. I like to keep it low key. I have noticed that it's hard to celebrate on my b-day in public. I used to love painting pottery on my birthday (it's the only day I can get the H to do something he truly hates) but the pottery places rarely have even half of their normal stock. Last year we went to Edinburgh Zoo and there was only one dining place open and they only had their cold foods (sandwiches and such) available.

I did like having a January birthday when I was in school. I felt bad for kids who were born in September because they would barely know their classmates when their birthday came along. (I went to schools where the students usually weren't the same from year to year.)

[pittpurple]

I had to take a break from my BMB for a while after that ridiculous post. I mean seriously - of all the things to worry about, worrying about some potential future child maybe getting fewer gifts? I mean, seriously. Who thinks of this crap?

My mom and brother have birthdays that are randomly on Chanukkah sometimes and my birthday sometimes fell on Passover. I hated that because I couldn't have a proper cake. But seriously, if that's my biggest childhood trauma I did pretty well.

I do not care at all when these babies are born - B'H" it will be sometime around Thanksgiving or Chanukkah and that's fine.

[travelingturtle]

I will say, I would've loved to have a birthday around Thanksgiving. I was nervous that W was going to be born on Halloween since I'm not a fan of that holiday too much, but he was born after it so that's good.

[dorothyinAus]

Jun 14, 2012 5:35:07 GMT -5 neeps said:

The bummer about having a late summer birthday is trying to send invitations to your friends in the summer to invite them to your party. Kids who had school year birthdays would just hand out the invites in class. But I guess if I was a kid now, I would just text them

Growing up the one thing I wanted was a birthday party in school like my friends. We always started after Labor Day, so the first time I was in school on my birthday was my Freshman year in college.

But I guess I saved my parents money on parties as I never had one.

[rhiannonsage]

Halloween (or around) birthday would be cool! My birthday is actually in about 12 days (26th) I've never had a problem with it really...in school when everyone else was having their "parties" I never got one because we were always out by mine (I do remmber one teacher gave me a special day towards the end of school because of it thou). I also felt it was great pretty much having 6 months inbetween "big" gifts lol. I don't think it would really be a problem to have a birthday at anyother time though

[clogged]

Summer birthdays suck. You are lucky to get 50% attendance because everyone is on vacation. It especially sucks if your 3 BFFs are on different vacations slots and one or more can't come to your party. It's disappointing hearing all those no rsvp's.

And I know December b-day kids who got the shaft. Quite a few. It isn't the amount spent on a gift, but the fact that you don't have a box to open on Xmas day because you already opened it on your birthday. It may not be a biggie as an older kid, but explain to a 6 year old why everyone gets a toy from Aunt Sally but they don't because they got one last week on their birthday. Especially when they know damn well the other kids got one on their birthdays AND Christmas. Or vice versa... you don't get a b-day gift because you got a "big ticket item" on Xmas. Mist kids have no clue as to the value of a dollar, but they do have a clue that gift giving events mean gifts and not getting one is unfair or hurts.

[Waffles]

My birthday is on a very minor holiday which means that I always had the day off while at school, which was very cool. No overshadowing at all as it's hardly celebrated but when I was a kid my parents let me believe people put flags up because of me :-)

I only regret I don't get the day off work now.

[crimsonandclover]

My birthday is almost exactly 6 months apart from Christmas, and I loved it. I love hot weather and it's basically always hot on my birthday (at least in the States). I loved always having the day off of school (again, in the States, it wasn't the case in Germany). I loved having a nice 6-month present rotation. :-) I didn't have the problem with friends so much since my best friends were at the horse stable, and I saw the in the summer even more than during the school year.

I saw the thread on Dec 2012, though, and think it's ridiculous. I wanted to get all snarky and tell them that maybe they'd get "lucky" and have a preemie so they would spend this Christmas in the NICU, but after that they wouldn't have to worry about their kid having a birthday during the holidays. Honestly, though, women who get worked up about their future kids having a birthday around Christmas are living a blessed life.

[GilliC]

I have a late October birthday, and it's an excuse for me to force Halloween down the throats of my non-American friends! I love Halloween! I would rather cover my flat in silly decorations and force people into fancy dress than celebrate my birthday in any other way!

[loveday]

Dorothy, what day in August is your birthday? I am the 31st

And to answer the question, yes it is ALWAYS overshadowed because my brother and I were born on the same day 6 years apart. We always shared birthday parties growing up.

[oneslybookworm]

Birthdays were not a big deal at all in our family, so it wouldn't have mattered if my birthday was on a random day, or on Christmas day. As it were, my birthday is right in between my brother's and sister's bday, so it's literally one right after another for three straight days. So...I had to share with them...but since bdays weren't a big deal anyways, it wasn't exactly traumatic.

[dulcemariamar]

Jun 14, 2012 5:16:17 GMT -5 travelingturtle said:

My birthday is the day after new year's and I think that is the worst birthday. Though I didn't get Christmas leftovers for food, by Jan. 2 people are done celebrating. quote]

This is my EDD.

[travelingturtle]

Dulce: It's ok. The good news is the chances of being born on the due date are small AND since you know how someone feels who has that birthday, you can make it more special for your little one. Also, I always had my birthday off because school was never back in session by then! I also got to go on great trips since we would combine it with new years.

[dulcemariamar]

No worries!! I am not a crazy person. I agree with Pittpurple, if having a birthday around the holiday is the biggest burden in your life, then you are doing pretty good.

Plus, I dont plan to go overboard with a birthday. Dinner out, cake, and a gift or two.

[Deleted]

my best friend was born the 26 december, her husband the 25th...they feel a bit like they were screwed out of a holiday somewhere

[clogged]

Jun 14, 2012 13:24:04 GMT -5 @myblue said:

my best friend was born the 26 december, her husband the 25th...they feel a bit like they were screwed out of a holiday somewhere

My H is a Valentine's Day baby. It is weird me getting flowers on his birthday. Thank goodness we aren't stateside- way too much competition for dinner reservations!

[Deleted]

September 22. I share it with Scott Baio and Joan Jett. As far i know nothing overshadows the celebration, not even Scott's party, which would be awesome.

[dorothyinAus]

Jun 14, 2012 10:43:31 GMT -5 loveday said:

Dorothy, what day in August is your birthday? I am the 31st

My birthday is the 27th. One of my friend from high school's is the 31st and we joke that we have been friends since birth as we found out during a class project our mothers shared a hospital room. It was just one of those small-world-random things.

[Wanderista]

I'm a November birthday and I quite like it. I've never felt like it was overshadowed by any events, rather it added to the overall festiveness of the season like an extra holiday. My SO is a July guy so his birthday is in the height of summer. He always gets to celebrate it at the beach.

I have a dear friend who is named Noelle because she was born around Christmas. I always make an effort to give her separate gifts and she celebrates it separately but usually in the week between Christmas and New Year.

[CakeLover]

My birthday is July 3rd. It's an awesome birthday to have. There's the potential for fireworks, being at the beach or pool. The only downside was sometimes growing planning a birthday party was useless because no one was in town. Families would travel for the holiday. Overall I love my birthday.

[dorothyinAus]

Jun 14, 2012 19:00:58 GMT -5 Wanderista said:

I have a dear friend who is named Noelle because she was born around Christmas. I always make an effort to give her separate gifts and she celebrates it separately but usually in the week between Christmas and New Year.

My best friend's birthday is Dec. 19 and I always made sure to give her a birthday present wrapped in birthday paper and a Christmas present in Christmas paper, even though we celebrated both on New Year's Eve when we got together for our holiday adventure.

I always made sure to wrap my parents' gifts in appropriate paper too.

[bugabean]

DH and his sister were supposed to be born on leap day (scheduled c/s) but his mom insisted on moving it to a more sensible day. lol

The only bad thing about my birthday is it was usually during spring break, so when I wore my "it's my birthday" button, no one saw it.

[anna7602]

Jun 14, 2012 20:13:54 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

Jun 14, 2012 19:00:58 GMT -5 Wanderista said:

I have a dear friend who is named Noelle because she was born around Christmas. I always make an effort to give her separate gifts and she celebrates it separately but usually in the week between Christmas and New Year.

My best friend's birthday is Dec. 19 and I always made sure to give her a birthday present wrapped in birthday paper and a Christmas present in Christmas paper, even though we celebrated both on New Year's Eve when we got together for our holiday adventure.

I always made sure to wrap my parents' gifts in appropriate paper too.

I honestly never cared nor do I care now if my December birthday presents are wrapped in Christmas paper (or Hannukah paper). A present is a present.

Again, I really think people put way too much thought into this. It's all about what your own family does. If you're worried your kid will get the shaft because of a birthday at a particular time of year, then do what you can to make the birthday special. Or celebrate it just as you would if the birthday fell at any other point in the year. And above all, consider that whatever you do will be considered "normal" by someone who has never celebrated it any other way.

If anything, I think the holiday birthdays in my family had it better. At Thanksgiving, for example, we always had a cake for my uncle (Nov. 25th) and one of my cousins (Nov. 21st). The family rarely got together for any of the other aunts/uncles' birthdays, but I never, ever forget this uncle's birthday because of the Thanksgiving birthday cake we had every year when I was younger. And I'm sure my other cousins remember the Nov. 21st cousin's birthday now that she is an adult for the same reason.