How do you handle kids with birthdays close to Christmas?

[3BoysRDisneyFreaks]

All 4 of my kids were born between Nov. 5th & December 14th. It is hard to squeeze parties in between Thanksgiving & Christmas.

A friend of ours was born on Christmas Day. His parents never separated his birthday from Christmas and still to this day (36 years later) has issues with it. Never got birthday wrapping paper or separate gifts. I have seen a few of his birthday cake pictures from growing up and they say "Happy Birthday Jesus & Mike". In that order. We always wish him a Happy Birthday on that day and NEVER say Merry Christmas.

 

[squirrel]

Whatever you do don't do this:

I had one little boy who turned 5 on Jan. 2nd who attend the daycare I worked at and his parents never picked a date for a kid's party for him. He went around telling everyone he was 5 but he didn't get a party. I'm sure they must have done something on his birthday with family but at that age everything is about having other kids celebrate with them.

I'm sure if they picked a date later in the month and let him know that's when they were going to celebrate it he wouldn't have been so sad. I never did hear him talk of a party to celebrate him turning 5 with his friends.

 

[Ariel on Land]

The worst thing is the combination Christmas/Birthday present. And definitely don't give b-day presents wrapped in Christmas paper. Some of our friends and relatives would do this for my sister and me. But our brother, whose birthday is in June, would always get a new set of presents for his b-day. As an adult, I couldn't care less as I know there are more important things in life. But as kids, my sister and I felt a huge sense of inequality!

TOTALLY AGREE!

 

[hoosiergirl7]

My DSister's birthday is the 9th of Dec and we never had a problem. It is far enough away that she had a normal birthday party, etc. Her only complaint is that she has to celebrate her birthday when it's cold!

My DS was born on the 17th of Dec which is exactly a week before Christmas Eve. We've either had his birthday party the weekend around it or after Christmas. It depends. This year though I think we'll schedule it for the weekend before his birthday. And we're seriously thinking about trying to talk him into doing some sort of charity drive for his party. The amount of gifts he gets between his birthday from friends and family is completely obscene and overwhelming. We still want family to get him gifts for his birthday but we're thinking for the party we will have for his friends doing something that benefits someone else like a toy drive or book drive for those less fortunate.

 

[ceemys]

My b-day is Jan 1st and my sisters is Dec 27th! Best advice....Keep the birthday celebrations separate from Christmas. Do not put the b-day presents underneath the tree and don't use Christmas paper for the wrapping. It will be hard to have friends come over with the holidays, but maybe you can do a delayed party in January as she gets older. Have fun!

 

[amylynne01]

My DD1 was born 12/22 and will be 3 this year. We've had her bday parties the first or second weekend in December. This year it will be 12/13. The family that we invite know that it's her birthday, so getting a birthday invitation is not a surprise to them. Our nephew has his party the Saturday after Christmas every year - his bday is 12/29. We have another nephew who was born 12/10, but he lives in VA, so there's no party to attend. We just resign ourselves to the fact that we'll be busy with parties.

We typically have Christmas decorations up before her party, but then we decorate on top of those with whatever theme her party is. Our family is great about not using Christmas paper for her presents. So far it's working for us!

 

[LaurenLC]

My birthday is December 22 and my family was always great about my birthday! We had a family birthday on my actual birthday and I had my birthday party with friends on my half birthday. I never got presents that were for my birthday AND Christmas, and my birthday presents were NEVER wrapped in Christmas paper.

 

[Leajess99]

My friend used to let her son decide when he wanted to celebrate his birthday. She would then let the other parents know that this would be the only time that year he would celebrate and the reason they let him choose the date was because his birthday was so close to Christmas. They always had a great turn out. For his real birthday he would just have a family party.

I wish my mom had though of this as I always ended up with no one showing for my birthday parties and shared birthday/Christmas gifts.

 

[lindsey]

My son's birthday is Dec 29 and we have always tried to make sure it is a special day. He will be 24 this year (where did all those years go). When he was in school we tried to have his parties the first week in January when the kids went back to school from holidays. As he got older, going to his favorite restaurant on his actual birthday made him happy.

 

[amyren]

DD's birthday is Jan 3rd (which also happens to be our wedding anniversary ). She's turning 3 this year (and we are celebrating 8 years!) We are having a party on Jan 1. I'm hoping that most people don't have plan's on New Year's day. For the past two years we've had a pretty good turn out.

I like the fact that her birthday is after Christmas.
One of her friend's birthdays is Dec 20 and lots of people miss her party bc of Christmas activities.
Also, I remember being let down on Dec 26th every year bc the fun of Christmas was over. Now she has something fun to look forward to.
We always have our tree down just after Christmas so hopefully she will feel like her day is separate from the holiday.

Something else to consider my niece's birthday is July 3rd and seriously only about half of the people they invite to her party come because of vacation!

I keep telling DH that in a few years we MUST do a Disney trip to celebrate her B-Day and our anniversry.

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

My DD will turn 14 on 12/20. When she was little (before she started school) we did a regular kids party with 4 or 5 friends the first week of December. Once she started school it got harder to have parties because kids were always busy with holidays and traveling, so we started to do just family parties on her birthday and 1/2 birthdays in June. During her 1/2 birthdays I usually did a yankee swap where everyone brought a gift suitable for a girl/boy her age. That way she got a gift and so did everyone else. Now that she's older we usually do a family party on her birthday, she has a slumber party on New Years eve, and a small 1/2 birthday pool party in the summer (no gifts). It's more about spending time with her friends for her than the gifts. She loves having her birthday 5 days before Christmas! For her it's all a one week party, no school, Birthday,Christmas pot luck,Christmas eve, Christmas Day, party, party, party!!!

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

My son's birthday flirts with Thanksgiving, depending on when turkey day falls. It's not as big of a deal as being close to Christmas, I think, because T-giving isn't a gift-giving day. But my BIL's birthday is around then, too, and when my son was born I asked my sister about it. She said the only complaint her hubby ever had with a birthday close to Thanksgiving is that he got tired of his mom dressing him like a Pilgrim for his birthday every year!

I like the idea of celebrating a 1/2 birthday...but then again, I also like luckey-lasvegas' approach of a weeklong party fest!

 

[scrapquitler]

My birthday is 12/22. Very early on, my mom decided that we would celebrate my birthday the first weekend in December. She would never, ever put Christmas decorations up until my birthday was over with. We'd usually do the kid's party on Saturday, and a family party on Sunday. Birthday wrapping paper only, God help you if you showed up with a 'joint birthday/Christmas' gift OR wrapped it in Christmas paper! LOL (Obviously this refers to family, she wouldn't have been rude to my little friend's parents...LOL).

This sounds like the 'rules' we had in my house growing up. My Brother's birthday is 12/20. Things were complicated by the fact that my parents owned a retail business and Christmas was their very busy time so they worked long hours. My parents were always adamant that his birthday should not get shuffled to she side just because it was close to Christmas.

The rules:

* We never EVER put any Christmas decorations up until after his birthday. This meant that our tree always went up on the 21st.

* Everyone (close family) was asked to PLEASE be sure to give him a separate birthday gift, not a combo birthday/Christmas gift. And for goodness sake, don't wrap it in Christmas paper. If you can't afford both, then at least do a small gift for each....a child who has a birthday in June wouldn't get shortchanged on their gift, so the child with the December/January birthday shouldn't either.

* He always had his friend party in January. It was too hard to get everyone together in December. Having it a few weeks 'late' allowed for more friends to go to his party.

*The family party was usually a Sunday afternoon/Evening about a week or so before Christmas. My grandparents on both sides, and a number of the aunts and uncles always were there. Even if they had somewhere else to go, they'd at least stop by for a short while.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

DD's birthday is December 30th. She's older now - she'll be 12 this December so this is what we do.

On her actual birthday DH, the three youngest kids and I go to either a place like CoCo Keys or a local hotel with an indoor pool. We stay the night - order room service and let the kids swim. We stay and have breakfast the next morning before heading home for New Year's Eve.

With her friends we do a 1/2 birthday and have her birthday in June/July when there are so many more options available.

 

[Deffenm]

I have two. DD6 is on Dec. 24th and DS9 is on Dec. 30th. This year they decided they wanted a joint birthday party at the zoo so on Dec. 4th they are having their "friend" party at the zoo. Usually we have seperate parties (dd early Dec. and DS in Jan). On their actual birthday they each get a few gifts wrapped in Birthday paper, cake, balloons with usually just us and grandparents. I also make their favorite meal. DD is always pizza and DS is never the samething.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

I'm surprised by how many people think it is such a big deal to have a birthday close to Christmas. Really its only as big a deal as you make it. Why all the "rules" like no Christmas decorations until after the birthday, no combined gifts... I don't get it. Our decorations go up Thanksgiving weekend before either of my boys December birthdays. They are usually still up on my DH's Jan 2nd birthday.

My DS 8yrs is proud to have his birthday on Christmas day. If you ask him he will tell you proudly that he shares a birthday with Jesus and Jimmy Buffett. He is really easy going about it. Of course I make a point to tell him happy birthday in the morning. I also tell him Merry Christmas. He knows how special he is to us. The date of his birthday doesn't matter. I think he likes the fact that we celebrate with a party 2 weeks early because then he gets his birthday presents sooner!

 

[kacaju]

I'm surprised by how many people think it is such a big deal to have a birthday close to Christmas. Really its only as big a deal as you make it. Why all the "rules" like no Christmas decorations until after the birthday, no combined gifts... I don't get it. Our decorations go up Thanksgiving weekend before either of my boys December birthdays. They are usually still up on my DH's Jan 2nd birthday.

My DS 8yrs is proud to have his birthday on Christmas day. If you ask him he will tell you proudly that he shares a birthday with Jesus and Jimmy Buffett. He is really easy going about it. Of course I make a point to tell him happy birthday in the morning. I also tell him Merry Christmas. He knows how special he is to us. The date of his birthday doesn't matter. I think he likes the fact that we celebrate with a party 2 weeks early because then he gets his birthday presents sooner!

I agree. My dd10 Birthday is 12/22 I have her Birthday party as close to the actual date as possible (just like I do for her sisters who are born in Feb and Oct.)

I have never, ever had a problem with none of her friends showing up. Yes, she does have one friend who can't always make it, but that girl's Birthday is ALSO 12/22. So many times this girl is out with her family.


Don't even get my started with the half Birthday thing...sorry, she was not born in June, she was born in Dec. So far so good. She will be 11 this year and LOVES her Birthday being so close to Christmas.

 

[LaurenLC]

I agree. My dd10 Birthday is 12/22 I have her Birthday party as close to the actual date as possible (just like I do for her sisters who are born in Feb and Oct.)

I have never, ever had a problem with none of her friends showing up. Yes, she does have one friend who can't always make it, but that girl's Birthday is ALSO 12/22. So many times this girl is out with her family.


Don't even get my started with the half Birthday thing...sorry, she was not born in June, she was born in Dec. So far so good. She will be 11 this year and LOVES her Birthday being so close to Christmas.

I love having my birthday close to Christmas too, but I wanted birthday parties with all my friends too.... Celebrating my birthday in June allowed me that... I also had a pool in my backyard, so that made for fun June parties. I don't think you should knock something (like celebrating a December birthday in June) until you've tried it!

 

[Ash&Wes07]

My birthday is the 15th of Dec. Growing up, I never had a birthday party because it was too close to Christmas. My parents never thought of having one earlier/later, either. I hated it. They'd even give me gifts wrapped in Christmas party.

I know it makes me sound like an extremely spoiled brat, and I take full ownership of that fact. But, it really upset me to never have a day for myself like the other kids did.

Now that I'm older, my DH makes my birthday special by making one day all about me, and buys the tackiest birthday wrapping paper possible to wrap my gifts in, LOL.

Both of my children are summer babies, but I always said that if we had a Christmastime baby that they would have the same attention paid to them as if their birthday was any other time of the year, complete with a party, presents, or a day where they choose to do whatever they want.

 

[mrsltg]

My oldest DD was born on 12/8 and my youngest was born on 12/31. Every year we have their party on the weekend that falls closest to 12/13 (my Nana's birthday). My oldest was due on Nana's birthday and Nana referred to her as, "my little birthday present". In honor of Nana's memory we celebrate with a big party somewhere close to the 13th. The two girls share a party with friends and family and then each girl gets a celebration of her own on her actual birthday. Neither birthday has anything to do with Christmas and no one combines gifts. The house is still very much decorated for Christmas on both birthdays, though.