Need tips for celebrating a Xmas birthday

[wagamama]

DD was born on Xmas day, and we just celebrated her 3rd birthday yesterday. It was kind of a disaster, and I was really upset. Basically, the idea was to open Xmas presents in the morning, and do DD's birthday celebration in the afternoon (opening presents) and evening (dinner, cake). It was OK, but she was tired, and overall I just felt like her birthday got "lost"  in the buzz of Christmas. Plus I got stressed out trying to make the day "great", spent too much time cooking Xmas lunch and not enough time with DD. I felt so defeated and disappointed at the end of the day.  :(

I really need tips for making her birthday special. I know some people do 1/2 birthdays ... maybe that would be better than trying to squeeze it all in at Xmas. Sigh -- help!

[mattemma04]

If I had an xmas baby I would do what you did and give a present/cupcake in the afternoon,but plan a party for another day.Either that or maybe celebrate Christmas differently by doing the major celebrating on eve.

Best wishes!!!!

[4evermom]

I'd be tempted to do a half birthday.  Mine is in June and I always appreciated it was half a year from Christmas so I only ever had to wait 6 months.  Plus I could get winter stuff at Christmas and summer stuff for my birthday.

I'd still try to commemorate your dd's actual birthday somehow... Just a little special time together.  I remember when ds was younger realizing it was easy to accidentally not be present for the child because I was busy doing things for him.  And he would prefer my attention to my spending time baking a cake or whatever for him.  On his birthday, I try to focus on his having a good day and I keep the food simple so I'm not wasting time on prep.  We go to a museum or something and order pizza for dinner.  I make sure I do the cake the day before.  It would be so hard to focus on that while also doing Christmas!  And the whole gift situation.  Ds would much rather have his gifts spread out than get them all at once with a regular modest Christmas.  He wouldn't want twice as many things all at once because it was his birthday, too.

[MJB]

My middle child's bday is Dec. 21. We always have his party the weekend before his bday (unless his bday is a Saturday or Sunday) to get it as far from Xmas as possible. He gets presents and cake at his party. On his actual bday we just have a nice dinner. That concept might confuse a 3 yr. old but next year he'll be old enough to get it. I would definitely not try to do Xmas and his bday on the same day. 

[serenbat]

I am a week before Christmas, I have one friend on Christmas day and another who's son is also on the day-it's sucks!

It certainly did for me! I HATED combined gifts as a young child, two cheaper would have been far better!

for me, we did OTHER dates as I grew up (large Halloween Party, slumber parties at other times, etc) and several b-day parties in Dec had to be postponed due to storms! I still hate it, there are other things going on and it makes it hard to have even a simple dinner out this time of year

as for my friend who's son is on the day- she changes things at noon, balloons come out and the table cloth changes and it's all Birthday, new birthday wrapped gifts come out and the rest of the day is all b-day (this is just family) and also does the "party" with friends at another date 

[kittie313]

My mom is a 12/24 and her brother is 12/23.  Growing up for me, my dad's family always tried to combine my mom's birthday and Christmas into one gift, but she taught me that they are separate days and to treat them as such.  Also, my SIL was born on Christmas day, and I know that they do their Christmas celebration on the 24th instead, and then celebrate her birthday on the 25th.  If I had a child with a Christmas birthday, that is likely how I would handle it (like my SIL and her family do her birthday).

[chaimom]

My dd is turning five and her bday is Dec. 28.  It's different than an actual Christmas Day birthday, but we're still going to separate it.  Her party with her little girlfriends is going to be in mid-January.  On the day-0f, we're going to have cousins over, a cake and a couple of small presents.  If her bday was xmas day, I would choose either the week before or the week after for the birthday celebration, but have a cake for her on xmas night.  I think celebrating a half-birthday at this age is asking too much, although closer to 10, it might be a really good idea.  My boys have May birthdays and it's so nice to get presents 2x a year, to accommodate their changing interests. 

[claras_mom]

Dd1's b-day is less than a week before Christmas. We've generally had family celebrations on the actual day. This year, she did request a small party with friends from school and then some family and adult friends for dinner. Which was OK. I was stressed, but I think I"d have been stressed anyway. She thinks it's way cool to have a birthday that close to Christmas, so a half-birthday, for now, is out of the question.

I'm banking on her preference for small, family-oriented parties to continue. If we're going to really splash out on a gift--like a new bike--we tend to give it for her birthday, rather than Christmas.

If her birthday were on Christmas Day, I'd probably move our Christmas celebration--except maybe for stockings and the one Santa gift they get--to Christmas Eve. The Christmas dinner would be on Christmas Eve as well, so that lunch/dinner on the day could be birthday girl's choice.

[AllisonR]

It won't matter - in about 35 years when she has her own kids. But as a kid, it sucks. I'd celebrate her birthday on the 24th or 26th instead, or celebrate her half birthday on June 25th instead. This will work out great later as she starts wanting parties, little spend the nights....

My sister was Dec 20th, which is bad but not horrid. Mine is Jan 2 - as in "oh, thanksgiving, christmas parties #1 2 3 4 5... christmas, new years. Aw, now we are all done - finally!" Then "Oh, no, we still have Allison's birthday to go." Even my mother forgot my birthday a few times. Now I don't give a tiddly-squat. But as a child, a birthday ought to be a big deal. 

[Alyantavid]

I don't know, I still care if my bday gets lost in the Christmas shuffle.

I'd probably do a special dinner for her bday celebration and have the party on the following weekend (or whatever day works).  Just keep everything separate.

[*bejeweled*]

It really doesn't have to suck. My DD's birthday is in late December, but we usually celebrate it December 26th because all of the family is together and it makes it really special.

She gets so many birthday gifts and we do a full on party. This year we went out the morning after Christmas and she chose her cake, all of her own plates, cups, treats, etc. It really is special for her to have everyone together.

If she wants to do a school party, we'll do it December 1st or so. She thinks of the month as her birthday month.
Edited by *bejeweled* - 12/31/10 at 8:10am

[brokenheart]

DD is the 24th.  We have had a Very Merry Birthday Party earlier in December and decorated gingerbread "birthday" houses.  Other years we have waited until the end of January, so everyone is over Christmas and looking forward to something fun.  On her actual birthDAY we have a homemade cake, whatever dinner she wants and we goo to a movie.  So far DD hasn't cared at all that her party isn't on the actual day she was born.

[K1329]

Ds has a birthday a few days after Christmas. If his birthday were actually on Christmas, I would celebrate it in early December, or, before Christmas, then add lots of birthday hugs and kisses and a cake to go with the Christmas festivities. IMO, it's too much for all parties involved to try to do both celebrations on the same day. Last year we had ds's birthday party in early Dec. This year it will be in early January. But, on his actual birthday, we do have a cake and a small family celebration to commemorate the occasion. But, the big friend and family party is separate from Christmas.

Even for dd, a summer birthday, we often schedule a friend/family party on a weekend, and have a cake/small immediate family dinner on her actual birthday.

[donutmolly]

My DD2's bday is Dec 19th (she also just turned 3!) and mine is also near Christmas, so I'm very aware of making the day special.  Growing up, December was so exciting for me, which was good in many ways.  We tried to do half-birthday parties, but it just didn't have the same excitement as my real bday.  I loved having a cake with a Christmas tree on it, and playing "pin the nose on the snowman" -- so I'm not shying away from mixing the two for my DD.

For DD2, we did a playdate with her best friend several days before her actual bday and then had a very special family breakfast the day of...  This was the first year my 5yo was able to grasp the idea that you could have a party on another day than your actual bday, so I wouldn't be surprised if your DD takes awhile to get the idea.  Mostly, I just tried to keep it low key, while still celebrating DD2.

FWIW, my guess is that you have a couple more years to figure out what is going to work best before bdays become THE thing.  My favorite bday party was going to the mountains to go sledding with a few close friends... school was closed, so it was easy to do some extra fun things.