Birthdays on or near Christmas

[Deleted]

I had a friend growing up whos birthday was a couple days before christmas and instead he would have his birthday party (with friends) on his half birthday in June. Ive always thought that was kind of neat!

[VillainV]

My husband's birthday is the first week of January, and I think he's always felt a little bit short changed. I will admit that it's a challenge to buy both birthday and Christmas gifts for him (he's hard to shop for anyway). I think with kids you just have to make sure that you treat them as two distinct occasions.

[6fsn]

My kids are Sept, Dec, and March. Oddly, they are all busy times regardless of the holidays. We do a family celebration on the birthday. I plan a party based on what works for us and the important people and make it as special as I can. The parties might be a few weeks before or after the birthday, but it's still fun and they get excited.

[arch01]

DS is 12/22. This is the first year we're really doing Santa, so there will be a bit more emphasis on his birthday vs. Christmas. Our plan is, if he wants, to have a birthday party on his half birthday. Right now all he cares about is that he gets "happy birthday cake" and he can open his presents.

[kategm]

Following

[water*drop]

My birthday is right before Christmas. My big things are not wrapping my birthday presents in Christmas paper and giving me actual birthday cards, not Christmas cards with "Happy Birthday!" written inside. For extended family parties, we did combine my birthday and Christmas, but we celebrated my birthday before dinner and Christmas after. That was enough separation for me. Birthday parties with friends were always hard because everybody was busy for the holidays, so we'd do them pretty early and often did bigger things with fewer kids (so, like, we'd all go to the movies or to the zoo or something that would have been super expensive with lots of kids but was more affordable because there were only a handful of kids who could make it). In order to not miss out on the big outdoor toys that other kids got for their birthdays, my parents made my Easter basket all about outdoor play. I even got a bike for Easter one year.

[cricketwife]

My moms bday is Dec 22 and she always wanted two distinct presents
- one bday and one for Xmas. DS 's bday is Jan 11. He isn't one yet but we have discussed Dh giving him present(s) on DH 's bday in Sept to balance out the presents. We have friends who the grandfather does that he doesnt need /want presents. He loves it because all the grands remember his bday, Lol. We would also give DS one present on his bday too and make a bug deal of the day with his cake and stuff.

[soozy87]

My brother's birthday is 4 days after Christmas. My parents don't do anything out of the ordinary for his birthday that they don't do for the rest of our birthdays. I will say though that my mom once said that they are sure to wrap his gifts in birthday paper and not Christmas paper.

[Velar Fricative]

My brother's birthday is in mid-December. We just had parties around his birthday. It never seemed to be a big deal, aside from the relatives who'd only buy him one gift "for his birthday AND for Christmas." LAME. But most people were considerate and got him separate birthday presents wrapped in birthday paper with birthday cards.

I don't like the half-birthday party idea at all. I have no desire to celebrate my birthday 6 months before/after it. I'm not in the birthday spirit at that point or at any point that isn't around my actual birthday! *zips up flame-retardant suit*

[bbonanza]

DD2's birthday is the day after Christmas She opens only Christmas presents on Christmas, and the next day she opens her birthday presents and we have cake, sing to her etc. Then, a couple weeks later in January, we've had a family/friend birthday party just for her birthday. So far it's worked out well, and she seems to be very happy about it because she gets presents two days in a row!

[laurenh]

These babies will (hopefully) be born within a couple days of xmas. My plan is to just have two very distinct celebrations and make sure that the birthday one includes birthday wrapping paper, a cake, etc. My sister's birthday is 1/3 and my parents treated it the same way they did for the rest of us - out to dinner, birthday presents etc.

[mlt]

My mom's birthday is right before Christmas and from the way she tells it you would think it ruined her life. She requires and demands elaborate gifts and celebrations now, in her fifties, to "make up" for a childhood of combined Christmas/birthday gifts and no parties.

I'd have more sympathy but most years all she does is text me on MY birthday, so.

[SJ]

One of my BFF's birthdays is 12/25. Her parents were careful to always make sure she got more gifts than her brothers and wrapped a portion in birthday paper. I think it might make sense to open them at a different time (when I don't know??) so it is clear to all your kids why she is getting more/different ones.

DH's birthday is 1/2 and it is the worst because everyone is so partied out after NYE. His parents weren't good at holidays and special stuff anyway so I am trying to reclaim the Magic for him.

[Deleted]

Oct 3, 2014 7:57:50 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

My brother's birthday is in mid-December. We just had parties around his birthday. It never seemed to be a big deal, aside from the relatives who'd only buy him one gift "for his birthday AND for Christmas." LAME. But most people were considerate and got him separate birthday presents wrapped in birthday paper with birthday cards.

I don't like the half-birthday party idea at all. I have no desire to celebrate my birthday 6 months before/after it. I'm not in the birthday spirit at that point or at any point that isn't around my actual birthday! *zips up flame-retardant suit*

I wouldnt do it now as an adult, but I think for a kid its kinda awesome and makes them feel special.

[Deleted]

My Mom's birthday is the 23rd.
She likes special paper for her gift and a cake. A lot of the time she shares a cake with Jesus....lol. She still finds that hilarious 57 years later. She also likes a special birthday lunch out (easier to schedule, between holiday errands/cooking/etc). Always has.

My grandmother said people tried so hard to make it special for her that she never really had too.

She swears it's a big deal to worry over if you make it.

[dancingirl21]

DH's birthday is 12/1, which is usually the weekend after Thanksgiving. I try to make it special by separating it out from the holiday and going to dinner or an event.

My cousin was born on Christmas. She always gets a birthday cake at Christmas dinner and her parents do something special for her on a different day. She also gets specifically Christmas gifts and birthday gifts from the family with birthday wrapping paper on the birthday gifts.

[YahYahs]

DD1 is December 13th. She'll be 4 this year. It hasn't been an issue so far, but I'm paying attention to ideas for when she's older.
We've celebrated her birthday each year with a party sometime before her birthday and then a fun dinner/cake/presents with just the 4 of us on her actual birthday. The house has been decorated for Christmas and we're clearly in holiday mode, but everything about her birthday is "birthday" themed, not Christmassy.
We are light on bday presents anyhow, for everyone. But we still do 2 presents from mommy & daddy and 1-2 (small) presents from sis.

[Deleted]

My nephew's birthday is Dec 27, and he has gotten a raw deal many times. I feel pretty bad for him, honestly. His parents are....what they are. And usually get him a gift that they consider "big" for Christmas and tell him that it's for both. But his brothers get regular gifts on their birthdays the rest of the year. And most of his gifts are wrapped in christmas paper. Which I guess isn't a big deal, but just one more thing to make it obvious that people are still focused on Christmas.

[sent]

My brother and I are both December birthdays, with mine being much closer to Christmas than his. My mom always had separate celebrations for us, but it was hard especially for me to have any kind of celebrations or parties with friends.

I was SO EXCITED that DD's EDD was January 26th. She wouldn't face December birthday struggles like we did. Instead she decided to show up on Decebmer 8th. I'm thinking about celebrating it right at the end of Nov/beginning of Dec with friends so it doesn't get lost in the holiday shuffle as December goes on.  At home we'll do it on the actual date.  

[SpartanGirl]

My oldest was born on Christmas. We work hard to make the separate events.

-Christmas is in the morning. Birthday celebration in the afternoon.
-We decorate the kitchen/dining room with streamers and birthday balloons and let her pick what she wants for dinner (because at her age, no kid wants a turkey for their birthday dinner).
-We use birthday wrapping paper for her gifts (this advice is given to us the most) and not Christmas paper.
-We don't do combined "birthday/Christmas" gifts.

As she's gotten older and asked for parties with friends we've always waited a month after her birthday to do a friend party. Late January has been a great time to plan a party. The craziness of the holidays is over and people are itching to get out of the house and do something.

Of course, after all that, DD1 LOVES having a Christmas birthday. She has requested Christmas themed cakes and even asked if we could use Christmas paper to wrap her gifts. She thinks she is extra special for getting twice the gifts (and the grandparents definitely overcompensate in the gift department).

[cinco]

Oct 3, 2014 7:57:50 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I don't like the half-birthday party idea at all. I have no desire to celebrate my birthday 6 months before/after it. I'm not in the birthday spirit at that point or at any point that isn't around my actual birthday! *zips up flame-retardant suit*

DD2's 1/2 birthday is DS's actual birthday, so it would be pretty shitty of us to do the half birthday thing

She has only had 2 birthdays, and we didn't do anything different than the other kids. Cake, birthday decorations, presents, all around spoiling. Friends and family have done a good job of getting separate presents , but they do give them to us when we meet up for Christmas. I hold on to them and we open on her birthday.

[sjh722]

My cousin's birthday is December 26. They do family stuff with a cake, separate gifts, etc on the day, and I think as he's gotten into school they do his party with friends on his half-birthday (they have a pool, so that works out well and he's happy with it).

My nephew's birthday is in early December, and my SIL doesn't put out any of her Christmas stuff until all his parties (why you have 3 parties for each kid is beyond me, but I digress). That means some years it doesn't go up until the 15th or 16th. I don't think I'd go that far, but I think she's kind of weird a lot of the time, haha.

[Deleted]

My whole family's birthdays are in early January (mom, dad, AND sister). DH calls it "the month of birthdays" because the first 3 weekends in January we are with my parents celebrating birthdays. I wish they would combine some of them, but we never have. It does make it hard to shop for everyone.

For kids, I think celebrating on their half birthday is a great idea!

[pierogigirl]

DS2's b-day is the first week of Dec. Our biggest problem is having an inside party in our tiny house and finding a "fun for little kids" venue. Bowling's not big with the two year old crowd! So far he's gotten the shaft on the party size. When he's older and has friends, we'll do a better job.

We do separate presents, cake, etc. So far, it hasn't been a big problem. The hardest thing for me is thinking of enough cool things for both his birthday and Christmas lists. It probably works out in his favor because we end up getting him other presents/toys during the year, since all of his gifts come in the same month. I do a bigger Easter basket for both of them than I would otherwise (at least that's my excuse!).

[dulcemariamar]

My LO's birthday is the day after Christmas. We just had her birthday on that day with birthday wrapping paper and decorations. We had a birthday party with the other side of the family a few days later on the weekend.

I know it is unpopular but I think celebrating half birthdays is silly. Your birthday is when it is and the timing might suck but not everything in life can be as you want it to be.

[mollybrown]

My son's birthday is mid December, and we haven't done anything special. He's always had a birthday party, generally the weekend before his birthday to give it as much separation from Christmas as possible. We've always had a good turnout at the parties (generally halfway between Thanksgiving and Christmas). The only issue is that he gets a ton of stuff in December. So far I've been able to hide about half of it immediately and spread it throughout the year, but I think he's getting too old to continue doing that. I love the idea of celebrating his half birthday, but that would fall during summer vacation here. I have a summer birthday and know how much that sucked since I never got to celebrate with my school friends, so I think I'll let him choose.

[biogirl21]

My birthday is ~3 weeks before Christmas and now my son's is ~3 weeks after Christmas.

I never understood the hesitance of having a baby near the holidays. I never felt like my birthday was overshadowed or forgotten. I always got cake and dinner and presents. I never got fewer presents than my brother at Christmas just because my birthday was 3 weeks ago, you just need to save or plan to work it out.

Now a birthday ON Christmas would be hard. I would probably focus on Christmas in the morning and then do birthday stuff in the evening. It just a different day. Lots of people don't celebrate their birthdays on their actual birthday.

[dulcemariamar]

Oct 3, 2014 9:40:46 GMT -5 @littlemoxie said:

Oct 3, 2014 9:32:58 GMT -5 dulcemariamar said:

My LO's birthday is the day after Christmas. We just had her birthday on that day with birthday wrapping paper and decorations. We had a birthday party with the other side of the family a few days later on the weekend.

I know it is unpopular but I think celebrating half birthdays is silly. Your birthday is when it is and the timing might suck but not everything in life can be as you want it to be.

1000 times this. I think this is a great opportunity to teach your kid a life lesson instead of trying to give them their super special snowflake day that apparently every kid is entitled to.

I will feel like I made a mistake of my kid ends up to be in their 20s and still mentioning half birthdays and treating every birthday like a huge deal. I had a friend who made me look at birthday party venues and invites for weeks, had a chat and Facebook countdown, a birthday week, etc. To turn 27.

I am afraid to ask but I know that my SIL has a mini celebration for my niece every month at least for the first two years. She had a bigger celebration with gifts on her half birthday and a huge birthday on the actual birthday.

[Deleted]

Oct 3, 2014 8:02:06 GMT -5 laurenh said:

These babies will (hopefully) be born within a couple days of xmas. My plan is to just have two very distinct celebrations and make sure that the birthday one includes birthday wrapping paper, a cake, etc. My sister's birthday is 1/3 and my parents treated it the same way they did for the rest of us - out to dinner, birthday presents etc.

Speaking as a twin with a birthday the week before Christmas, this sounds like a very nice plan.

We didn't have a lot of money growing up so there wasn't a lot done for our birthday because things were already stretched for Christmas. Plus, school was always out by then so we didn't even get a celebration or recognition in our classroom. We got A LOT of gifts for Christmas and our birthday that were combined. It was a double burn. My mom did her best but if she'd had more time and money it would have been nice for her to do a June half year birthday party as others have mentioned.

DS2 has an end of January birthday and we will make sure to do something fun and special for it.

[6fsn]

I'm laughing at the Christmas paper comments. My oldest son is September. Just this year my sister brought his present in Christmas paper. He didn't even notice, but we all laughed.