Merry Birthday

5 People Share Their Thoughts and Experiences

on Having a Holiday Birthday

The weeks surrounding Christmas and New Year are, for a lot of us, the busiest weeks of the year. There’s holiday parties, shopping, planning, and traveling. There’s finishing out one work year and then coming back after January 1st to reacclimate to the grind.

But for those born between mid December and early January, all of the holiday hustle and bustle can often leave them and their birthdays out in the cold.

Image Credit and Artwork by: Nathan Pyle

Sure, immediate family and important friends will usually remember a holiday birthday but typically the sense of celebration that surrounds an average birthday never quite seems to be there for those born during this time of the year. People can be too busy to squeeze in another commitment of hosting or attending a birthday party and gifts often get lumped together with Christmas which can leave the birthday person feeling a bit shafted (and yeah I know gifts aren’t everything but it’s still super unfair.)

Well, at least that’s what I THINK having a birthday around the holidays is like. Not having a holiday birthday myself, I can’t really know if they get ignored or, in contrast, totally hyped up to make up for the overshadowing of the holidays.

So for this week, I’ve talked to five individuals who have holiday birthdays to find out what their thoughts and experiences have been. What are the pros, what are the cons? Have their feelings toward their holiday birthday changed from childhood into adulthood (for better or worse?) Do their loved ones make it a special day or does it lack the celebration of non-holiday birthdays? Keep reading to find out what they had to say!

5 People on Having a Holiday Birthday

*Entries may have been edited for formatting and grammar but are otherwise untouched.*

Kaitlyn (12/31)

“My birthday is New Year’s Eve. December 31st. I always get ‘Oh a New Year’s baby’ or sometimes hear ‘What a nice tax break you were for your parents’, usually that last one was from an older person. Yes, it’s fun having your birthday on a holiday, but not around Christmas. I sometimes say ‘Yes everyone celebrates on my birthday.’ Which is true, they just are celebrating the start of the new year.

Most people get presents twice a year, Christmas and then their birthday. Not me. Mine is always lumped together. ‘Here’s your Christmas and birthday gift see you next year.’ Speaking of gifts, when I receive clothes as a gift, it’s always, ALWAYS winter clothes. I have so many long-sleeved shirts and sweaters because that’s really all that is out there during this time of year.

My mom would try and separate my birthday from Christmas. Yes, we would still have Christmas decorations up, and the tree, but she would also put up birthday signs and have balloons to try and break up the fact that it’s still Christmas. It was always nice having my birthday off when I was in school though. But when I was little I didn’t get to celebrate with my friends in school like some of the other kids. Also since my birthday is in the heart of winter, my birthday party would a lot of times have to get postponed because of the weather. I remember one year it was almost the end of January before I was able to have a party.”

Anita (12/16)

“My birthday is December 16, nine days before Christmas. The story told in my family was that while my mom was in the hospital with me, my dad put up and decorated their Christmas tree so that it was ready when she got home. It became tradition to get and decorate our family Christmas tree each year on the weekend nearest my birthday.

When I was a young child, I had some sort of birthday party, but you have to remember that parties in the 50s and 60s were smaller and more restrained than children's parties are now. I celebrated only with family, sometimes with school or neighbor friends, but that stopped as I got older.

My mom in particular was careful that my sister and I always got the same number of presents to open on Christmas morning, so my birthday ones were always gifted to me separately. There was no doubling up. I remember though, that as I got older, sometimes my birthday presents were wrapped in Christmas paper, but they were always still birthday gifts.

I have attached a photo of my fifth birthday cake. I have no idea why my mom made it a fish or why my present was a coloring book titled ‘Indians of America.’”

Courtney (12/19)

“Ah, the holidays. Everyone’s favorite time of the year!

Oh wait, it’s also my birthday.

My birthday is six days before Christmas and it’s not ideal, but let’s start with the positives:

Particularly growing up but even still now: it’s the one time, almost guaranteed, that everyone that you love will be close. Grandparents would come to stay for the holiday; now my friends who have moved out of town come back. It’s full of hugs, stories, and making memories. My family always made sure to separate birthdays & holidays – my grandmother was December 24th – and it never felt forgotten.

Okay, so cons:

When I was younger, this often meant that my birthday party didn’t happen until MONTHS after (there was an actual party of mine that occurred in MARCH) because people were simply not available. Everyone is going out of town for the holiday and even if they haven’t left yet, they’re not trying to drag their kids all around for your party. If I did have it during December, it was very small and without fail, I always had a cake that had poinsettias on it at some point.

For the record, I hate poinsettias to this day.

When it came to gifting the phrase “Oh, I just combined your birthday & Christmas gift” came up A LOT. I know financially that Christmas is a rough time (I have FOURTEEN nieces and nephews’ people,) but it absolutely stinks when you took the time for someone’s birthday gift and their Christmas gift, and you got one.

As an adult, I’ve changed my expectations. I don’t plan on getting together with my friends for my birthday but rather, I’ll see them for Christmas/Friendmas celebrations, and I love that. It’s taught me to appreciate the time with people, no matter the occasion (I know, that sounds so hokey, but I swear it’s real.) My birthday has become subdued as I go to dinner with my husband and enjoy lying low with him, my cats, and video games.

I will still hate it if you wrap my birthday gift in Christmas wrapping paper. That should be said.

Do I wish my birthday was at another time? I’m not sure anymore, I’ve learned to appreciate the time of the year as it is.

Wait that’s a lie – I would love no snow. But other than that, I’m good.

T Bell (12/20)

“As a kid I actually was pretty spoiled. My parents always made a big deal over my birthday and Christmas and I definitely got a lot of gifts for each occasion. When I was in my teens, I think, that is when they combined birthdays and Xmas gifts.

But as an adult - I’ll be 48 - my dad has passed and my mom sends me a check with an amazing card every year. Our family does a grab bag for Xmas now because there’s so many to buy for. But my wife and kids and I, we make a big deal out of birthdays and Christmas. My kids love to make cards for each occasion for me. Now I actually enjoy getting older.”

Jessica,

on behalf of her daughter Lizzie (12/19)

“We thankfully have a good set of family members who all keep her birthday separate from Christmas. But, we still find it really hard to not let it slip by in the melee of packing up to visit Granny.

Lizzie’s Pink and Sparkly “Birthday Tree” - Image Credit: Jessica

We ended up accidentally starting a new tradition of the birthday tree. A friend was throwing out a hideous very pink, very sparkly 2ft tall Christmas tree. It is an eyesore but our daughter saw it before we could refuse it 🤣.

She wanted it in her bedroom and so the Birthday Tree was born. She decorates it through December with anything she makes at school as well as some special little baubles we bought. All her birthday presents appear underneath it overnight and she opens them in her bedroom.

We do this as the Christmas tree and decorations are up in the lounge but the bedrooms are a Christmas free zone. We then spend the day doing whatever birthday plans we have and finish with our normal Advent bedtime routine of reading our Jesse Tree story and heading to bed.

I think the key is, to listen to the child. If Lizzie chose a Christmas film, we'd watch it. If she chose the Paw Patrol movie for the 600th time, we'd watch it.

That way, she always feels like she is valued amongst the business of Christmas. She always chooses what she wants to do on her birthday and she chooses the food.

This year, we're visiting family for an old Christmas tradition of going to the pantomime. So we'll be staying in our camper van. We'll go to the pantomime on the Saturday and then on the Sunday (her birthday) she has chosen to go swimming and go to Pizza Express. And yes, that flipping tree will be coming in the van 🤣🤣.

It is much harder work than the other birthdays, especially making the cake. But, I always make the cake for the others so I drop other things and make sure I make time to make Lizzie's too.”

So what lessons can we take away to better celebrate our loved ones with holiday time birthdays?

First of all, no Christmas wrapping paper. Next, if they’re taking the time and effort to celebrate you on your birthday AND gifting you something at Christmas time it’s only right that you should do the same for them…even if that means it’s within days of each other. Lastly, maybe a birthday themed tree is the best way to celebrate the occasion. As long as it’s sparkly and pink, of course!

I want to give a huge thank you to Kaitlyn, Anita, T Bell, Courtney, and Jessica for their participation in this blog post and for their willingness to share their experiences with holiday birthdays, I definitely couldn’t have put this together without you…and a very Happy Birthday to the bunch!

Now for my readers, who has experience with holiday birthdays? Your own or a loved one? How do you handle them? Has reading the thoughts and opinions of those with holiday birthdays changed the way you’ll celebrate the holiday birthdays in your life moving forward? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments below!