Birthday near Christmas?

My son was born on Christmas Day. Everyone tells me we should celebrate in July but it just seems weird to me. I gave him a party for his 6th birthday Dec 5th. It was still a few weeks before school let out and it worked out well. I may do that again this year if he wants a party with school friends. At home we have Christmas in the morning and celebrate his birthday in the afternoon. This has worked for us so far.

I was born on Christmas Day. My mom celebrated my half birthday every year on June 25th. Much, much better. Worked great for me!

That is my brother's birthday. For years we celebrated Christmas as a family 2 weeks before and he had his birthday on the day. I know its weird but thats what we do.

Was interesting to read the comments. My daughter was born on December 27 so she will be one this year. And I've been trying to think of how I'm going to pull off a nice first birthday party for her. What is tricky is her first cousin has a birthday on Dec. 23rd and they are a year apart (2 this year). So since he will be having a party before Christmas, I thought about doing it the first weekend after the new year at least until her birthday falls on a Saturday or Sunday. It's a stinky time to have a birthday, but it is what it is.
Something I had thought of while reading the other posts was why not a birthday in July (like Christmas in July). But if it were me, I wouldn't make it birthday like but instead make it just a kid summer party.

my brother's b-day is xmas eve...we have always celebrated on or near the actually day (within a couple days)...my mom was always cautious of making it a birthday and not christmas...ex: more gifts for him, not wrapping in xmas paper, etc. i don't like the idea of celebrating in may...her birthday is 12-24...it is what it is! :) just my opinion...

My niece's birthday is the day after Christmas, and my nephew's birthday is a couple of weeks before Halloween. So my sister has an un-birthday party for them in the summer. She rents an inflatable water slide and sets it up in her back yard and has either a cookout or a crawfish boil.

My friends daughter is Dec. 22. They always do a family dinner on her birthday, but a big friends party the weekend near June 22. Which so far has always turned out to be Father's Day weekend, but she's her Dad's best buddy, so it works out.

One other thing she could do is always celebrate it on Dec. 27. That way, whatever gifts she doesn't get on Christmas, can be purchased on discount!

M.

I have read articles in Readers Digest where parents with kids with birthdays with in two weeks of Christmas had 1/2 bithday parties in June or July. Example, a 5 year old born on Christmas would would have a 5 1/2 birthday on the 25th of June. The people writing in the Readers' Digest said it worked really well for them.

Good luck to you and yours.

My daughter's birthday is 12/27. We've always celebrated on her day. We've had no trouble with party attendance either.

I make sure it is separated, I have a birthday area with birthday paper, etc.

She has never expressed a desire for a party other than on her day. She is 16.

I realize with 12/24 it's not as easy. I would carve out special time for her.

Some kids may enjoy their birthday being so close to a holiday. My birthday is a few days after Halloween, and I love scary and darker things so I often had small costume type parties. I was especially happy because I had my favorite decoration out for my birthday and Halloween, a big light up purple cat!

Christmas is harder, but still very enjoyable. My best friend's birthday is the 28th of December, and she often has her birthday party on the 31st. Parents of our friends love it because its often a sleep over and the parents of our friends can go enjoy themselves and not worry what their child is getting into. She still has themed parties, and this year I think she wants to do Marvel/Iron Man/Captain America type party. Last year it was Nightmare Before Christmas. Even with that movie pertaining to Christmas, it was very clear it was a birthday party, and very fun. We had pizza and cake and played in the snow a bit and all slept in the living room on the couches and chairs and a large blow up matress and then her dad fixed us all breakfast when we woke up. So that could be an idea for her, and it won't be but a week after her birthday. Maybe its because some of my friends drive, or because we all live pretty close to each other but we had about 8 kids that night, 5 staying the night (the other 3 were boys and walked right down the street home at about 5AM when my friends dad when to bed)

My birthday is Dec. 14th, my older sister's is Dec. 20th, my younger sister's is Dec. 31st, my daughter's is Dec. 7th and my nephew is Dec. 1st.
We have always celebrated our birthdays on or as close as possible to the actual date. My parents always made sure that our birthdays were a seperate event from Christmas and it was fabulous!
I would never have wanted a birthday party months after the fact. If she wants to have a birthday with friends, I recommend either the week before or the week after Christmas.
We always had very well attended birthdays!

I have a December boy. We always have his part in December we work very hard to make sure we keep his bday and Christmas separate occasions. He always has a good turn out. I think it's silly to have a party in may.

I think celebrating in May for a December birthday is ridiculous. Maybe celebrating earlier in December or in January is completely reasonable. I personally don't like celebrating afterward but May would be too early or too late in my opinion.

My daughter's birithday is December 4th but we tend to celebrate between Thanksgiving and her actual birthday. Typcially it would be the weekend prior to her birthday w/ something small at home on her actual birthday. The reason it sometimes happens a week early is because her big brother is home for Thanksgiving then.

For my son, we always celebrate the weekend prior to his birthday with one exception. He was 17 and had stuff going on with soccer so we did it the following weekend (his birthday was in the middle of the week).

My birthday is Christmas Eve. In fact, my sister's is December 1, my cousin's December 11, my mom's December 15, my aunt's December 26, and my parents' anniversary is December 31. When we were kids my parents usually combined mine and my sister's birthday parties and had it before winter break (that way we could invite our friends from school). We usually did a big family birthday party for all of us mid December. But my mom always made sure to take the time out of Christmas Eve celebrations to remember my birthday- she always had a cake and present time for me. She was the only one who thought to separate my birthday and Christmas. The years we had to go to my dad's for Christmas it was always an afterthought- while the car was warming up they'd light the candles and sing happy birthday and all of my presents were birthday/Christmas presents. Oddly, the thing I didn't like was that my cakes were always red and green and my birthday cards were always Christmas cards with happy birthday written in it. For some reason that used to really bother me. I guess because it didn't feel like my birthday was separate. I think as long as your friend's daughter's birthday is recognized completely separate from Christmas, celebrating in December will be fine.

While he is super young it is not going to matter.. Once he starts school she let HIM decide how to handle his birthday..

Our daughters Bday is in the middle of summer and it always seemed like everyone was at camp or on vacation..

As she got older we tweaked her birthday PARTY so that the friends she really wanted to be there could attend.. We still did a little family thing on her day, but sometimes we had the party right when school began, sometimes just another weekend when we realized when her friends were in town during the summer..

She was very clever about thinking outside of the box and being willing to wait until the people she really wanted to join her were available..

My friend's son has "half birthdays" because he was born on Christmas Eve. We went to his 2 1/2 birthday party which was a lot of fun....a pool party and backyard bbq. It went well. His cake had 3 candles, but the third candle was pushed in deeper to make it 2 1/2 candles, which was really cute.

My husband's birthday is 12/22 and he told me years ago when we were just dating that he hated his birthday because noone ever remembered, or it was just kinda stuck on with Christmas, or he only got one "joint" gift instead of 2 gifts. (Happy birthday and Christmas, and give him a book or record, lol). One year he got a bicycle tire for his birthday and had to wait 3 days to get the rest of the bike. That's funny, but mean. Also, he likes summer. For his 50th birthday, we had a huge bash that was all island themed--far away from Christmas stuff. That was awesome, and a surprise party for him b/c he certainly wasn't expecting his birthday on June 22. HOWEVER that was just that one year. Usually what we do is make 12/22 all about him, and more an EVENT than gifts. We do some special event that may be a little seasonal, but for him. (Stuff in the past: hockey game and a "guy party" at our house afterwards; one year I got a beautiful cottage in the French Quarter and I cooked an amazing dinner, and then we hit the town; one year a bunch of us rented a limo and went looking at Christmas lights and ended up at a friends house for a laid back little party, etc). Then Christmas is "Christmas" and his birthday has rocked his world already.

As for parties: my bff's son has a birthday on 12/27 and what she figured out for him---noone came to his party the first couple times. So then we got the idea to hold his party the weekend BEFORE so it was before Christmas and people were super busy. Then when sending out invitations BEFORE school let out for the holidays, she kind of marketed the party as a "drop your kid off for ice skating at __'s party and have a few hours to shop, drop, or handle the last minute details". Funnily, all but 1 kid who was out of town showed up for that party, and they have ever since. There's a few options for ya....hope one helps. If it were my child, I may do a "friend party" the weekend before, but I would have a special dinner of HER choice on 12/24 and save the Christmas dinner and stuff for 12/25.

I wouldn't want to do a January party because all 4 of us, and 4 friends, have birthdays between October 17 and December 22. Plus we love Thanksgiving. And Christmas and the 1-3 projects we do every year for the holidays, and attending other peoples' Christmas parties too, and then there's New Year's Eve and then our anniversary on Jan 2. So by January 3, we are partied out and won't do another thing until Valentines day. January is our month to get back to the grind of "normal life" and try to recuperate. I'm also of the opinion that if someone is a good enough friend to come to your party, then you should have their number (or parent's number) and email address in time for the holidays be it winter or summer breaks.

My birthday is the day after Christmas.
Yep - it gets over shadowed.
People are ready to celebrate the holiday and a birthday in with all that just overwhelms them.
I've often thought about celebrating my birthday in June, but when you are in school, summer break is in session instead of winter break - once you're out of school it doesn't matter as much.

My youngest was born on Nov 25, she is 7 & up until this past year when we changed her party to the weekend before Halloween, she had no one but family there. She had everyone from her class there, and then some!!! It was the best thing we could've ever done! And we are already planning it again for this year. My little brother is the 20th of Decemeber and I think my parents really didn't have to worry about it too much then because you weren't as limited in schools as you are with the bringing stuff in prior to and stuff. But in my opinion, I think it was a great idea. She actually thanked us for not making her celebrate with "the bird" like we did every year afterThanksgiving dinner by having b-day cake and presents!

I have always celebrated my birthday on the day or near it, Nov 30. Now I embrace it as Christmas comes to our house after my birthday and goes away after Hubby's, Jan 6.
In elementary school I was so jealous of the kids with Spring birthdays. THey got to have outside parties with cool clothes and presents. It always snowed or rained and I always got turtlenecks. To this day I refuse to wear turtlenecks. Petty, I know.

My friend's daughter was born on December 26th. What they have decided to do is acknowledge her actual birthday with a special dinner and a gift or two, but celebrate her half birthday on June 26th with a party and her friends. I thought that was a really great idea! Hope this helps.
A.

I think it is a good idea!!! my birthday is 2 days after Christmas, my brothers is on the 15th of Dec, my MIL's birthday is on christmas...lots of my cousins have december birthdays....i never had a birthday party growing up so i think it would be nice to do the party in May with friends and then maybe on the actual birthday do a small cake or a special dinner.

We just gone done celebrating my daughters dec. birthday this weekend. Yes, we switched to a half birthday for the time being (I just let her share the birthday of her baby sister). That way I only through one party and everyone is happy. I don't know for how long we will do it this way. But when her Dec. birthday was cancelled due to illness and bad weather, she asked about it for months afterward (so sad, we thought she would just forget). Anyways, its half birthday for her this year and maybe next as well.

My birthday and my daughter's birthday are near Christmas. I began to have a Solstice celebration and combine it with my birthday. Solstice is the real holiday anyway. 30,000 years old and still celebrated world wide.
The reason Christmas is such a bust as a celebration it that it occurs in Capricorn which is not a party sign. Solstice is half in Saggitarius and half in Capricorn. If you are smart enough to use the actual day or the night before to party.
My daughter likes low key birthdays.
While Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands celebrates her birthday months later and so does Queen Elizabeth ll a child cannot put off the day. Best to hold the party within the month.

My daughters birthday is Dec 24th and we made a point of telling family and friends that that is her birthday and Christmas is Christmas so when we have a party on the 24th it is to celebrate her birthday and is not an excuse to combine get togethers for the holiday season. It wasnt a problem for us. If when she is older she decides that she wants to be able to have a party in the summer we will definitely figure taht out for her but for now while it is just family and close friends we are keeping her birthday and birthday party on her birthday which os Dec 24th
Good Luck

Looks like I am in the minority here, but to me, it doesn't make sense to celebrate someone's birthday 6 months before or after their actual birthday. My birthday is December 20th and I've always celebrated it on or near to my birthday. The fact that it's right before Xmas was never an issue when I was a kid. I always had December parties and I always had plenty of kids there! The main point of the birthday was that I was turning one year older - having a party in the summer just seems odd b/cthe whole point is to blow out candles and be one year older! But that's just me, and how I was raised. My best friend's birthday is on Dec 25th and they always did the same thing! They celebrated her birthday on Xmas morning and had Xmas celebration later in the day. But I had another friend whose bday was on the 21st and she always celebrated her 'half bday' which always seemed wierd to me (and still does seem so, to be honest). Anyways...I hope this helps and Good Luck!

My BFF has a son who was born on DEC. 18th. She always has his party in January. That way everyone isn't stressed out from spending money on Christmas and it is a good time with little worry about previous plans too.

My step cousin was born the day before Christmas also but I'm not sure on her mother's thoughts on it or hers for that matter. I think its great though. Why not do it in December a week after Christmas since they are on vacation yet? Just my two cents.

Mine was born 12/21 and so far it hasn't been a problem! Except for her first birthday when it snowed two feet in one day, but she didn't seen to care as long as she had a cake to smash :)

We do her birthday party a week early so people don't have too many other holiday plans, and she has a Christmas stocking as well as a birthday stocking. Christmas will always be a part of her birthday so we kinda tie it in a bit!

Some people do a half birthday in June, which makes more sense than a may celebration, some schools are still session in June and a lot of kids have summer birthday parties that many friends still attend!

My second daughter's birthday is 12/19. She'll turn 30 this year (gulp!) and for the most part we've celebrated her birthday on the actual day. I've pushed pretty hard to get people to keep it separate from Christmas celebrations but I've tried to do it without making it a pity party for her (no "oh, poor baby! how terrible to be born so close to Christmas!" This kid can manufacture enough drama without any help from me!).

When she was in middle school especially, she decided she'd like to celebrate her half birthday instead of her actual birthdate. For the couple of years that it mattered to her, this worked well. Note, though, that we didn't make any effort to change it until SHE wanted it. Also, we did it 5 or 6 months after her actual birthday. We didn't want to celebrate on her half birthday & then have her turn around in December and change her mind.

Celebrating the half day was a good option when she needed to stand out a little. Celebrating on the day works well, too. I think the big thing is to celebrate with purpose, rather than to make it feel like an afterthought or one more thing you have to squeeze in around the holidays. And, by the way, we're not even talking large celebrations here -- usually just our own family, my mom, the godparents and MAYBE a couple of friends.

my birthday is a week after xmas and I always had a party then. And, I never even noticed how close they were until I was older. Plus, I LOVED having and xmas tree on my birthday. have her have the party at the beginning of December.

My two boys birthdays are a few weeks before and after Christmas. It's a good time for finances as well as people who are traveling on holiday or out of school to have it the first week of December.

If she goes the half birthday route, then May is cute, but if it was me, I would probably keep it early December.

My daughters' birthday is January 5th, and so far we have only had one year where everything got all messed up, but it was not messed up because of Christmas, it was messed up because on the third my MIL fell on the ice, and broke her ankle. I am lucky in the fact that several of my family members birthdays are close to Christmas, and their birthdays have always been overshadowed in the past by the holiday, so they try to make my daughters' birthday extra special. I am interested to hear responses, because I have wondered about doing my daughters birthday in July one year so she can have a pool party. I wouldn't do it in May though. If she is worried about the birthday being overshadowed by a holiday. There is Mother's Day, and when Easter falls late, it could overshadow it.

Our schools around here actually let the kids celebrate their birthday, at school, when their birthdays fall during the summer months. That way they do get to celebrate with their friends. You should coordinate that with her birthday party at home and celebrate all day!!

There was another thread about this recently. Celebrate on her half birthday - June 24. May works too if you want it during the school year. It doesn't matter when the real birthday is as long as you don't have a party more than once a year. :D

My sister was born two days after Christmas and she used to have a half birthday party in June. Then she could even have a pool party!