Christmas birthdays..

[C.Ann]

For those who have children who were born on Christmas Eve - or Christmas Day - how do you go about separating their "birthday" from the holiday?

Or do you?

 

[luvmarypoppins]

One of the ds is very near the date. I must say when he was little we had his party a few weeks before. Because none of the school moms would come during shopping time etc. Now he just gets money because he is too busy studying for college finals etc. then. If he wants to go out to dinner to celebrate, fine with us and if not, that is o,k. too.

 

[merekc]

I have a DH with a December bday and the things that I picked up on pretty quickly based on the stories from his "traumatic" childhood bdays are....
1) I must have at least one gift for each event, even if I give him a big combo gift.
2) I can never wrap his bday present in xmas paper.
3) I can never put his bday present under the tree while waiting for bday to arrive.

Hope this helps.

 

[momof1princess]

my brother's birthday is on Christmas day, and he just got extra presents on that day. he only had 1 birthday party that i recall. perhaps that's why he's such a bitter, selfish adult.

 

[macman752]

Our daughter was our Christmas present some 30 years ago. We always set aside time on Christmas day to celebrate her birthday. We had a birthday cake, cards and presents wrapped in birthday paper.

She's now married with children of her own. Her birthday has become lost on more than one Christmas since her children came along.

 

[Cherta]

My niece and nephew (twins) were born on Christmas Day. My DSIL usually has a party for them early in December. On Christmas Day, we all wish them happy birthday, but they "only" get Christmas gifts.

 

[C.Ann]

Hmmm.. Interesting answers.. I'm not sure how I would handle it if I had a child born on Christmas Day.. Some of the solutions here sound pretty good though..

 

[terri01p]

As an adult with a December 31 birthday, it sucked as a child, I was always ripped off of any type of birthday party, come to think of it I'm a pretty bitter adult too...

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

Well not quite the same as ON the holiday but my bday is the 22nd. I love it. I've never had work or school on my bday. Everyone is on vacation and ready to celebrate. When I was little there were some years we had to have my bday party in early Dec or even before Thanksgiving. Now its not an issue. Most big holiday events and parties seem to be further out beforehand and people are often free.

I will say growing up my mom always made a huge deal out of my birthday and on just that day the house would be decorated for a birthday and in addition to all the red and green everywhere you'd probably see streamers and pink and purple balloons, etc. I always got birthday presents and Christmas presents no combo gifts, always birthday wrapping paper and an actual bday cake. I don't mind combo gifts or Christmas wrapping used now, and I actually request a treat we can only find for Christmas as my birthday "cake"... I think my parents always making a big deal out of my bday and making it a big day regardless of whatever else was going on, helped me have such a positive attitude about it. I actually always wanted to have a kid with a Dec bday. But ended up with 2 summer babies, and one Spring one.

 

[albertagirl2007]

I have a December birthday. As a child we often had my "friends" party in November so it wasn't during "Christmas Party Season". It usually worked out pretty well. I often got the dreaded "combo" birthday / Christmas present (never from my parents). It usually wasn't a larger gift than I would be receiving for Christmas but the giver just wrote "and Happy Birthday" in the card like it was an afterthought. It drove me mental (and still does)

Like a PP, I have "rules" I "encourage" (force) my family to abide by

1) Never wrap bday presents in christmas wrap
2) Never use a christmas card in place of a birthday card
3) Never put bday presents under the christmas tree
4) Never give my birthday gift at our family Christmas party (I have fond memories of my cousins crying because I was getting "more" presents)
5) Never use the excuse "I was too caught up with Christmas to remember your birthday" My birthday is just as important as Jesus'

My mother likes to decorate the house for Christmas on Grey Cup Sunday (late November). Every year I asked her not to decorate until after my birthday (December 16). I never won that battle, but now I don't decorate my own house until the 17th

Ok maybe I'm a little bitter

 

[Nancy]

My 2nd DD is a 12/27 birthday.

I always have kept them seperate. We did Christmas and then the birthday parties the following Sunday, even if it was New Years day (just not New Years Eve).Presents were always kept seperate, I usually didn't even shop for them until the day after Christmas or the day of her birthday. My sister would send her Christmas in a seperate box to make them special.

I never wanted her to feel cheated because her birthday was so close to Christmas.

 

[tinatark]

I had a double whammy - my birthday and my grandparent's anniversary were 12/17. We always lived near (same family property) them so my 10 aunts/uncles came over for their anniversary -

 

[DisneyMomx7]

My dd's birthday is December 30th. On her actual birthday we just take her out to dinner and give her our gifts (immediate family). We always make sure her gifts are wrapped in birthday wrap.

We have her school party in January, after the kids are back in school so it's more special than just thrown in during the Holiday mix.

 

[Barbossa]

Our DD7 was born on Christmas Eve. (Her name is Natalie, which means "Born on Christmas Day", close! We chose the name before she was conceived, which makes her Xmas Eve birthday so much more cool.) Anyway, we always have a short getogether on the morning of her birthday. Our families have big getogethers both on XMas eve and day, so those times are out. We give a larger party/getogether for her birthday 1-2 weeks later.

 

[4nana]

We have a child born on C'mas eve . Tradition is, we have a big party here with all the family, everything up to 6pm is Birthday - food, cake and ice cream, gifts in BD paper, etc.

Come 6 or 7 pm, they announce, 'It's time for C'mas' and then we do a big C'mas gift exchange.
Such is life, sadly the world does not revolve around us, so we simply learn to deal.

 

[AlexTina]

My DS was born Dec. 20th he'll be 4 this Dec. so it hasn't been a problem yet and everyone in my family is very careful to keep his B-day separate from Christmas. We basically do all the same things the OP's mentioned and I usually try to have his party the weekend before his B-day just to separate the dates a bit more. I do have a couple of family members with Dec. B-days who celebrate in July so I guess that's an option, but it just seems strange to me to change your B-day.

Tina

 

[SHAYMARAYSMOM]

My oldest god sons Birthday is Christmas day.
What his mom and dad have always done was celebrate it at a diff. time. He alsways got to pick it. He always thought that was cool

 

[littlestix]

My DS's b-day is the 23rd. I usually have his party the 2nd week in Dec. I never wrap his gifts in x-mas paper although others have

On the day of his actual b-day his dad and I take him to Chuck E. Cheese or some other fun place for just him. Oh and he also gets a cake!!

For the most part he seems Ok with this. This summer he made a few comments how it's too cold for his parties. He's really wanting an outdoor party with games, swimming, a scavenger hunt or anything outside. Anyway, I'm thimking of letting him have a 1/2 party this upcoming June

 

[momof1princess]

i do believe my mother handled my brother's Christmas birthday poorly. however, being a single parent overwhelmed with working in a steel mill full-time and raising 2 kids with almost no help, i understand how it happened. if it were me, i would have a "friend party" in early december or january and celebrate with family a few days before or after Christmas.

 

[rentayenta]

For those who have children who were born on Christmas Eve - or Christmas Day - how do you go about separating their "birthday" from the holiday?

Or do you?

This year DD's bday is on the first night of Hanukkah and obviously also very close to Christmas. We make sure to wrap all her gifts in birthday paper and her party is usually the weekend before her actual bday unless Hanukkah runs through that weekend. With 7 days/8 nights and a bday in late December, it's bound to fall on a night of Hanukkah. We just make sure to have a totally seperate celebration.