Combining birthday and xmas??

Nicole - posted on 12/18/2012

My son's birthday is the 24th and I will NEVER celebrate his birthday and Christmas together! They are two completely seperate celebrations and my family knows not to "combine" his gifts. If they want to get him something then that is fine as long as it isn't a combined birthday Christmas gift. If they don't want to get him anything that is ok too. He was born 5 weeks early and from day 1 I told everyone he will have a birthday seperate from Christmas because he deserves a day for him just like every other child in our family. Just my 2 cents though :)

Mark - posted on 12/17/2012

We set up the 'Birthday Tree' for our twins bday on the 18th, then they help swap it over to the 'Christmas Tree'.

It is hard to keep things separate, Christmas from Birthday, one twin from the other's party. We opt for two small cakes, and separate gifts. Trying to keep things seemingly even with each of the twins and their eldest brother's holiday loot haul, that's the tricky part for us.

Bottom line, keep them all knowing you care, make it each a little bit special, and have fun with it as they all grow so fast.

M

Megan - posted on 12/06/2012

As they get older, consider celebrating half birthday's in the future. A big fun outdoor party with games in the summer for their half birthday would be so unique and special.

A game I have played with large groups is "Indoor Snowball Battle" Divide group into two teams. Use masking tape to divide the room - Use two lines of masking tape separated by about 3-4 feet (so the kids cant smack someone on the other team when throwing) Team one behind the first line, team two behind second line...space in the middle is neutral. Give each team lots of newspaper, or tissue paper. Give each team three minutes to make the paper into "snowballs". Then countdown to start the snowball battle. Kids just whip the paper balls at the other side. When time is up everyone has to freeze. Then count the paper balls on each side the team with the fewest balls on their side wins. Have them throw balls into garbage can when counting.



Also this game is super fun http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0043IE... for a group. There are lots of clever group games for a party.

Shana - posted on 02/18/2012

Hi Shana, I am also Shana!

I am a 30 year old woman and have had my birthday and christmas combined for YEARS. It buged me to no end!!!! All I ever wanted as a kid was "Happy Birthday" wrapping paper and balloons. Silly I know. My mom got creative and when she would combine both Holidays, would:

switch out the table cloth to a happy birthday, the napkins, bring out hats, and balloons, and of course the wrapping paper.

This small gesture that took 5 minutes, and everyone would laugh while we wore birthday party hats around the Christmas tree made a huge difference and I never felt sad again!!!

Heaven - posted on 02/17/2012

While he's too young to remember it's fine but next year he'll be old enough to understand birthdays and some kids will remember their 3rd birthday.



I know a hefty handful of people who were born in december, aside from my 3 year old son, who have never had anything positive to say about their own childhood birthdays or christmas experiences. They grew to hate christmas early in life because their families simply wouldn't treat the days separately; while they had to watch their siblings enjoying full birthdays and christmases. Because I have the good fortune of knowing other adults who shared their stories with me I refuse to allow my son's relatives to combine the days at all. He deserves his own day just like any other kid.



What we do is simply insist on shopping for his birthday a month or two in advance of our christmas shopping and we also insist that any relatives who want to dote on him do the same if money is an issue or simply not show up. It sounds a bit cruel and demanding but really there's no excuse to combine the days when you have 11 other months to prepare a gift for the poor kid.

Nicole - posted on 02/09/2012

My daughter turned 3 on the 28th of December and we have always separted to two Christmas is one day and her birthday is another special day. I say don't combine.

Nicole - posted on 02/09/2012

My daughter turned 3 on the 28th of December and we have always separted to two Christmas is one day and her birthday is another special day. I say don't combine.

Brandy - posted on 01/04/2012

Maybe something special on his birthday like his favorite resteraunt and cake! Make a special family day and celebrate by getting balloons and a present. It doesn't have to big and fancy at this age and it's important to show him how special this day is for all of you! We are taking our daughter to the aquarium for her 3rd and meeting family and friends after for dinner out (somewhere with awesome chicken fingers-her favorite). I'm making cupcakes and letting her help me decorate them the day before.

Marie Jayne - posted on 01/03/2012

It does make it difficult with my LO bein born christmas day trying to seperate the two. Unwrapping birthday presents first, then christmas presents later doesnt seem to make much difference. apart from having the half birthday in June as my mum started(mainly cos she knew she wouldnt be here for her 2nd birthday) i dot see what other option I have.Plus majority of places are closed and theres no public transport on Christmas Day so goin out somewhere special isnt really an option.. (then theres having to cook the Christmas Dinner.. lool..) So if anyone has any other ideas i'd love to hear them.

Lynn - posted on 01/02/2012

My daughter's birthday is Christmas Day, and she turned 8 this year. NO! I would never combine her birthday with Christmas, and never have, not even her first birthday. Each child deserves to have their own special day and party. We do sit down for Christmas dinner and sing Happy Birthday, then have her party several weeks later.
My son's birthday is at the end of August, and he gets his own party, so I want to be fair to my daughter. It's not her fault her birthday falls on Christmas!

Patricia - posted on 12/29/2011

I would def do it at that age. Folk make too much fuss when at that age it is really for the parents....make xmas extra special with a birthday card from rudolf and santa to be cherished in years to come.

Deb - posted on 12/29/2011

I am a "Christmas baby" born on Christmas day.My mom always kept my birthday seprate from Christmas. Christmas was in the morning--my birthday presents were saved tiil later in the day-after dinner--of course dessert was birhtday cake. Always had an "UN Birthday party " with my friends on another day of my choice. And no I never felt cheated.

Tammy - posted on 12/26/2011

My younger brother's birthday is in December and our parents usually combined it and I always thought how great it was that I didn't have that problem. LOL I don't know how he felt about it, as my parents forbade me to ask so not to cause problems, or have him question it. Sadly, we are not close, so still have never asked him.

Ashley - posted on 12/20/2011

my sons birthday is the 19th and planning a bday party around xmas is a pain. this year we had an early party. invited close family over for pizza pop and cake. we had video games for the kids all the grown ups just socialized... it turned out better than i expected.

Peggie - posted on 11/24/2011

My daughter Lily will be 3 on Christmas Eve. In our family the little one's are cherished. Especially on their birthday! Lily was born 2months early and weighing only 3llbs, what i consider a miracle,and the best Christmas gift "I" could ever receive. I celebrated her 1st b-day on her day with grand-parents and our family. However, coming from a large family with many nieces and nephews whose birthdays I as well as the rest of my family attended,decided that i want the same for my daughter. Having said that, most of my family being older now have many other Christmas functions to go to. I don't want my daughter to miss out on what the other kids had, so i have her party for the whole family (aunts-uncle-cousins) the week before her birthday and then have another "get together" with her grandparents and us on her actual day. This way i feel she is not being "jipped". And she get's all the attention she deserves for blessing us with another year of her!!!

Missie - posted on 11/03/2010

My son was born on Christmas eve. so i know your issue. We have thought about this too. I do not want to cheat him out of Christmas. We have 5 other children. We have 3 December birthdays and have even contemplated combining them all. But we eventually came to the conclusion that, each deserves their own day and thats what we do. However the Christmas baby still presents us with a unique issue, we always allowed one gift to be opened on Christmas eve in our home.. last year for his first birthday we changed this.. This year we have a new issue.. we moved back to Florida near my husband parents and my father.. Although my father will visit Christmas day and things will not change there, my husband parents expect the kids to do everything on Christmas eve, so I really feel your problem. Although i doubt a party for our son is on the agenda this year, I still think I may put my foot down and not allow opening of Christmas gifts on his birthday and give him his own special day. I am just a firm believer in giving them their day out of the year, so they get to feel extra special.. but then again that may come from me having six children and having 3 birthdays in one month along with a major holiday.

Emily - posted on 10/22/2010

My daughter turns 2 on the 23rd, so we will probably have a smaller party for her on her b-day, but my guess is that most of my family will give her her b-day presents on Christmas, and I also agree a 2 year old isn't going to know the diff, for now. I have 4 kids, and everyone gets their own party, so I will always do seperate parties for her, but probably will stick with smaller ones, at least until she gets bigger...I think when she starts wanting to have friends we will probably try to do the b-day party a week or two ahead of time. I also have a daughter whose b-day is right after Xmas, and my hubby's b-day and our wedding anniversary are both in December too...it's a crazy month already, then we added a baby to it LOL. Her first Christmas is always a fun memory, spending it with my husband and her 3 older siblings, holding our brand new baby and sitting in my hospital bed...she has her own special story! Her middle name is Noel :)

Gabriela - posted on 10/20/2010

Not me. My daughter's bday is on the 19th but I will never do that to her! lol. My best recommendation will be just to do something special for him even if is just you and your son. This way he'll know the difference between celebrating his bday and celebrating christmas.

Jennifer - posted on 10/20/2010

My son will be 2; 6 days before Christmas. I feel like even though they don't know what is going on, it's still important to celebrate their day of birth. It is a celebration for me, and for him no matter if he doesn't remember his 2nd birthday. Just because their birthday falls so close or in some cases on Chirstmas, doesn't mean we should make it easier on ourselvs and combine the two celebrations. I wouldn't want that if my birthday was so close to Christmas - kiddos need to have their own special day no matter their age. : )

Seren - posted on 10/16/2010

My daughter will be 2 on the 28th december and we made the decision last year to have christmas and her first birthday as 2 separate days. As she was born at 32 weeks and we took her home on the 30th january, we decided that when she is older, she will have her special day on her birthday and have a party for her with her friends on the 30th jan. We just want her to have her own day as we did as kids!!

Laura - posted on 10/15/2010

my son will be 2 on 21st of december, we held a party the weekend before his birthday & on his actual birthday we spent it together visiting Santa Claus.. we hope to keep up this tradition.

Becky - posted on 10/14/2010

My son was born on the 9th of Dec. I have 4 children. The 3 oldest are girls:) What I have been doing( well just started doing) is we do something special on each of their birthdays just for them. And I plan a huge party for all 4 children in the summer. We did this for the first time this year and all of my kiddos had a blast! I asked them if they wanted to do it again next year and it was a big YES! But they do each have their own special day on their Birthday which they enjoy, because they get one on one time with mommy and daddy:)

Fiona - posted on 10/13/2010

ive actually considered doing the same as my daughter turns 2 on new years eve day! my birthday is also on the 9th of december so its a very busy and expensive month for us,i have a friend whos mums birthday is on christmas day and she celebrates her birthday at a different time of year,just do whatever works for you and your family,you may decide that christmas and combined birthday party works or maybe hold a seperate birthday party in january

Janice - posted on 10/09/2010

Personally, I think it's wrong combining birthday and Christmas!! I just think it's not fair, it means that the children will miss out on presents, and having their own special day!!!
I have some friends who were born on Christmas Eve, and Boxing day, and they get very upset if they have joint Christmas/birthday presents, presents wrapped in Christmas paper, or birthday presents wrapped in Christmas paper, and I can fully understand it!! If a child is born at Easter would you buy them a larger Easter egg???
When we had Lydia, we decided that from then on, we will not have any Christmas decorations etc up until after her birthday!!! I think you need to start now with how you plan to manage birthday and Christmas in the future, because if you've already done it one year, it wone matter if you do it another year!!!
Good luck with what ever you decide!!!!
Janice

Deanne - posted on 10/09/2010

My little girl was born the 24th December and last year for her 1st birthday we had a party with my husband's side of the family on the day, then had Christmas Day as usual (family again but more extended and with friends) and then on the 26th is my husband's sister so we had another party with all her friends! At least this year we will be having a quieter time, but we will still be celebrating each day as different from the next. Growing up apparently my sister-in-law always got Christmas presents in Christmas wrapping and birthday presents in birthday wrapping and anyone who joined them was 'told' not to do it again! We only have the 3 of us as a family (our extended families live hours away) so to celebrate with family is going to be harder year by year but we may also do 1/2 birthdays some years too when she understands more about birthdays and Christmas.

Jessica - posted on 10/07/2010

no way!! everybody else gets a birthday why shouldnt december babies just because their birthday is so close to christmas thats not fair to them

Shel - posted on 10/06/2010

That's easier for you because her Birthday is at the begging of the month her's is the day before and I have 3 other grand children to prepare for not including all the cooking to be done and work

Melinda - posted on 10/06/2010

Do not combine. If your child's birthday is in December; try having the birthday party early that month. My daughters is on the 2nd of December and I am throwing her a Winter Wonderland Theme Party! :)

Elisabeth - posted on 10/06/2010

He won't know what's going on. Don't worry about it.

Shel - posted on 10/06/2010

Yes my grand daughter's birthday is Christmas eve so she gets to open a gift that night and we will celebrate Christmas and her birthday party the next day

Cody - posted on 10/06/2010

My baby girl's bday is Dec 29th. Last year we combined our Christmas w/ family and her bday on Christmas eve. I won't do that again. No matter how old, she still deserves her special day to celebrate her bday. This year we are planning her party for the 1st weekend of Dec. It will out of the way before Christmas and hopefully people won't be too broke from buying Christmas presents. Whatever you decide will be fine and at this age they wont know the difference but I have felt like my baby got cheated on her bday last year.

Laura - posted on 10/06/2010

I'm just after Christmas and my daughter is Dec. 27, so I will do what my mom did which is decorate early for Christmas and remove all signs of Christmas on the 26th so the 27th is her special day. I think both are special days and need to be treated as such.

April - posted on 10/06/2010

my son was born December 22...last year i had two parties. one the week before and one the week after (we have family in 2 different states). well 2 parties was A LOT of work, so we won't be doing that again.

this year we are having his party a week before again and we're inviting only his friends. it is going to be a Christmas/winter wonderland/polar express theme. but it's still his birthday and not xmas

Jayme - posted on 10/06/2010

No way! That is just not happening. I have 3 kids and we celebrate each one of them because we all should get a special day. I feel so sorry for kids who don't get that recognition. Yes, even at this age!

Rachel - posted on 10/05/2010

My son's birthday is December 21st, so one his one year, we did his birthday on the 21st, and he got one gift from us and his grandparents. We celebrated Christmas on Christmas day, then he got the rest of his gifts. My husband's birthday is December 15, and all of his life, he always got combined presents, and refused to do the same to our son. I always plan to make his birthday and Christmas uncombined because they are 2 separate occasions.

Suzanne - posted on 10/05/2010

No, and I'm surely not judging you if you do. My 19 yr old's B-day is 1/2/91 and my baby's is 12/29/08, and even if I'm broke I still try to make each one's birthday special. It's so tempting not to use leftover Christmas giftwrap for their B-day gifts...but I don't. I'll put up streamers & balloons too..(cheap stuff, Martha Stewart I am not) He noticed. I have pics from years past of my baby's reaction to seeing the kitchen decorated for his day.

Vanessa - posted on 10/05/2010

My daughter's birthday is december 14th. I don't want to get into the habit of combining her birthday with christmas (my brother was born on the 15th, so i saw him go through that all the time) Even if there isn't a lot of people there, i'd still do something small to celebrate your son's birthday, even if it's something as simple as baking him a cake, singing happy birthday and giving him one of two special presents.
My friend's mother was born boxing day, and there was always a couple of presents under the tree in birthday paper that she had to wait to open.
You don't have to do anything "big" , like i said, something small to celebrate *his* special day.

Amber - posted on 10/05/2010

I agree with Jennifer Robertson. Our daughter's is the 3rd and it really WOULD be easier to combine as December really stresses your budget, but I don't want to minimize Christ's birthday for the sake of convenience.....:)

Divina - posted on 10/05/2010

Our daughters 2nd bday is the 26th. We make it a point for it to be separate. She deserves her day. Not her fault she came early!! Last year we celebrated on her bday and had a good turn out. We borrowed an undecorated room at our church. This year we are debating the 26, or the 18th. It is hard because we always celebrate Christmas with the in-laws the Sunday before Christmas........The next few years will celebrate her bday the saturday after....even though it will be Jan...Have even considered having 1/2 bdays with her brother in August so she can have some pool parties or something.....This year she is having a tiny 2 party........appropriate because she is so tiny, still to yet grace the growth chart!

We don't have much family either, we just invite a few friends that have kids the same age. Simple things like the cake and a couple presents is all it takes to make it special at this age. Just make sure to celebrate in a different room than the Christmas tree, then they will know the differnce!!!

Sabina - posted on 10/05/2010

I would do it separate makes them feel more important. Thats what I do with my daughters b-day(dec,11) even though the MIL thinks I shouldn't cause its to close to Christmas and people won't buy her double gifts(its her who doesn't want to buy more then one gift). But we will have a party this year too we many just have to have more then one.

Maude - posted on 10/04/2010

My son's birthday is 4 days before Christmas and I want to do something separately. An adult I know whose birthday is close to Christmas always felt cheated because she didn't have her own birthday.

Teneshia - posted on 10/04/2010

My son's birthday is the 20th of December and my husband's birthday is on the 21st of December. Both of them could not help being born so close to Christmas so we have had two parties (20th and 21st) and then Christmas on Christmas. We of course have to plan wisely but it can be done and since my son will be 2 this coming December, he really doesn't know that his birthday and Christmas are so close together.... I guess when the realizes this we will still have his day, my husband's day and then Christmas..... Best of luck to you and what you decide!

Lori - posted on 10/04/2010

My daughter was born on the 23rd. My birthday is 2 weeks after hers and I always thought that was still too close to christmas because everyone thought they could just give me one presant for both and I hated it! I've vowed to always make her birthday special and seperate. It's hard to have a party being so close to christmas, I did one last year since it was her first but I think I will skip a party this year and just have a family thing. I figured next year she will be getting old enough to realize it more. But please don't lump the 2 together it sucks for kids! Everyone deserves to have their special day

Chelsea - posted on 10/04/2010

Oh no! Mathew was born on the 21st, I was planning on doing what I did last year and doing it two weeks early. When I found out I was due on Christmas, I promised myself that I would never do that! I dont think it's fair! Everyone else gets to celebrate their birthday and christmas seperately, why should Matty have to celebrate both on the same day?

It's true that he's young but it's more for me and my beliefs...

Brittanie - posted on 10/04/2010

for the 2nd i don't think it's a problem, but when he's old enough to understand I highly recommend making two distinct occassions. growing up my best friend had it combined all the time and he hated it, and usually got cheated when it came to gifts.

Erica - posted on 10/04/2010

My birthday is exactly one week after Christmas and my parents always made it special. They wrapped my presents in birthday paper, and gave me the same amount of presents that my brother got for his birthday. I always loved it because what I didn't get for Christmas, I got for my birthday.

I'd say try to make it special and separate from Christmas because Christmas is such a big holiday and you don't want it to overshadow his birthday. But I agree he probably won't notice much at two years old! :)

Nena (Vicenta) - posted on 10/04/2010

Both of my kids birthdays are in December so we celebrate with a big party in the summer and then have a small thing on there actual birthdays that doesnt consist of any gifts. That seesm to work out really well for us. this way they still get there special time that is all about them.

Jill - posted on 10/04/2010

We are combining our dd's birthday/xmas this year. I agree with the other posters that I don't think they know what's going on! They're more interested in playing with the wrapping paper. :o)

Melissa - posted on 10/04/2010

Despite Dec is a very popular month with my family having babies (both of my kids are Dec 13th and 27th) I will NEVER combine or the half b-day, I believe they should have their own day all to themselves on that day...My Opinion

Melanie - posted on 10/04/2010

i wouldnt combine both xmas and birthday, every child deserves to have a birthday... im a crimbo baby and i hated being given joint presents, how would u of felt when you was a child to be told oh u had ur present at christmas ... i really hurts! i have 2 children in dec 18th and 19th i wouldnt even join there birthdays together.. both my kids have parties at the begining of dec and then they have there birthdays on the day aswell ....christmas is a nightmare but we do have a whole year to save ... its not like we dont know its coming lol x