Opinions Needed

E.,

My daughter's birthday is the 26th of December. This last year I did her party on the 9th of December. That was the "big" party for all of her school friends and so forth and then on her actual birthday we still did cake and presents with just the family.

If you have lots of family in the area (we don't have any family here) and lots of little friends then you can do a 1/2 year party. I did a 1/2 year party for my daughter when she was 3 1/2. We were part of a nice playgroup and so we had all of the playgroup kids out to play in the sun. The only downfall to 1/2 year parties are they fall in June and school is out so it is a little harder to have the little school friends.

My birthday is on the 13th of December and honestly it has never really bothered me. Just remember that it is her birthday and it is her special day...use birthday paper and not Christmas paper...no Christmas cakes. December babies are special but a little challenging when it comes to birthdays.

Good luck
M.

Try celebrating a 1/2 birthday. My mom did this for me as a july baby, I always missed bringing cupcakes to school on my birthday (back when they allowed that kind of crazy stuff!)

My 7 yr old was born Dec 22. Mostly, we just try to do something he wants to do for his birthday. Like this year we took a few friends and went bowling. Or we take the to chuck e cheese or something to that effect. As long as you do something for their birthday, even if its just family, they aren't going to care to much at least not until they are teenagers.

E.,

This is coming from a Christmas baby (Dec. 29th) and the mother of a christmas baby (Dec. 13th). We plan on celebrating our daughter's B-day in June. (her 1/2 B-day). it is impossible to have a party around christmas because everyone is out of town or busy with Christmas parties. I never could have my friends over because everyone was away for the holidays. This way if you celebrate it in the summer, it will be more theirs. They will be the only kids who celebrate 1/2 B-days. :)

I'm a Christmas baby, too (Dec. 23rd). I don't remember big parties as a child, but small gatherings w/ a few close friends. I have really good memories of those parties and don't feel like I missed out b/c I didn't have my entire class over for a party. Sometimes, bigger isn't better. Besides, my parents made sure the day was special and recognized w/ in the family (my favorite dinner, my choice of tv programs that night). You'll set the tone for how your kids will feel about their Christmas birthdays. Teach them that a small get together is a lot of fun and they're not missing out and that's how they'll feel. Good luck!

I have a friend whose birthday is Christmas day, and she hates it, lol, she says every one forgets her birthday, so I make it apoint to wish her a happy birthday rather than a merry Xmas. All her parents really did was make a cake and wrap some of her presents in birthday wrapping paper, instead of Xmas, and one weekend during that month, she had a party for friends. You could celebrate each birthday on a weekend, celebate the birthday on the 20th the weekend before and the one on the 23rd the weekend after. I realize that could interfere with Christmas, depending on what day of the week it falls, but you could try, again the weekend before a friends party, the weekend after make it an immediate family party for both girls, and then perhaps the following weekend, or being, I assume it's during X-mas vacation (when they are old enough to be going to school) at some point during the week (maybe make it a sleep over party) have a party for friends. Or maybe you could celebrate half birthdays and just do something small for their actual birthdays, although at such a young age that might confuse them.

Beth.....Christmas Babies seem to get knocked out of the game!
my opinion for this one is to celebrate the 1st week of Dec. being that they are Dec. babies and try and do it seperately too! spend 5 minutes singing happy birthday to the older one while the younger one waits and then sing to the younger one, you can use the same cake or divide it with different themes i have seen it done and done it my self and just put each ones candle on their side or get 2 smaller cakes but enough for the party. my girlfriends daughter is on christmas and hates her birthday and since i told her about this same very idea she enjoys her birthday much more. i hope this work sweetie take care and have a great night.

My daughter was born on December 24, 2004 so you can imagine how hard it is to celebrate her birthday. She has many friends from her home daycare, so we have a birthday party for her around the first weekend in December. On December 24, we have another party for family and close friends early in the day before holiday obligations.

We also try to give her the big present for her birthday but not "skimp" at Christmas.

Hey, I am 29, and my birthday is Christmas Eve. My family always made a big deal for my birthday. They normally didn't get together with family on Christmas but on Christmas Eve insted. And it wasn't Christmas Eve. It was my birthday. They got a cake that was always different colors. A purple cake with purple frosting. Food coloring is wonderful. They always let me open my presents then and no one else got to open any other presents. As I got older, I got to let everyone open my christmas presents for them. It made me feel important. They also started to give me those statues of little girls with numbers on them. They sell them at Hallmark. There are two different brands. I got one and my sister got one for her birthday also. I treasure them now. Hope some of this helps.

C.

A friend of mine has a daughter with a December birthday. Her last birthday was fantastic. She had a "night before xmas" theme at her home, outdoors. All the kids came in their pajamas and slippers. They played silly games outside, prizes were wrapped like xmas gifts. Best of all, she hired a guy in a Santa suit to arrive at the party in the middle of it all. The kids each had a turn sitting on Santa's lap (under a previously decorated canopy/arch type area). They all took home a picture of themselves sitting with Santa. The kids loved it!

My birthday is Dec 26th and my mom always did my party if we had a big party that year, like two weeks before or two weeks after. We did a scavenger hunt one year. We went looking for christmas items like mistletoe and such from nearby neighbors. Times of changed so I am not to sure how safe that would be anymore. Whether we had a big party or just something simple she always made a point to do something so I did not feel like my birthday was lost in all the shuffle. I think she did a great job at that. My poor husband just has to now fill her shoes :)

hi E., my name is N. and i am a close to being a christmas baby, my b-day is dec.10th. the best thing i could suggest is to do their b-days based on what they like at the time. just b/c they are born in dec. doesn't mean you have to do a christmas theme for their b-days.if they like elmo then do an elmo theme, or if they like princesses then do a princess theme. i'm pretty sure no matter what you come up with, your children will love it no matter what.

Hello E.! Wow! 2 Christmas babies! I have a hard enough time with one in October!

My son has a friend that was born on Christmas Day. Instead of losing his birthday into the Christmas holidays, they have "Half-Birthdays" for Blake. They have a birthday party in June. They still celebrate his birthday on his actual birthday within their immediate family, but the June "Half-Birthday" is more for his friends.

Hi E.,
My daughter has Dec 20th birthday also. We do half year birthdays which means Just before school is out we have a party where the kids can come to the house and celebrate a traditional party. The emphasis is on Birthday Style Party. More games and pictures and making memories with classmates and cousins. Less on the gift giving thing. Then in Winter it is more of a family celebration where the aunts and uncles shower their affection attention. The pastor comes to the gathering to bestow blessings for her future. ( A little game of who she is most likely to take after) And when there is not this backyard/livingroom gathering, we take the kids to ChuckyECheese or some kids palor or McDonalds with a play area and invite a few kids for a couple of hours. Skating & bowling has allowed us to mix it up. Then there is the Sleep Over Movie Marathon. This has been one of the best by far. Here they get to play dress-up and make glamour shots, make their own snacks and just be BIG girls in some of mommy's stuff. Of course, other mothers lend a fun outfit for the ocassion. Once we had a mother who did hair and one who did Mary Kay Cosmetic come together and did spas and makeovers as she got a little older. It is just unbelievable the stuff that doesn't clash with a more traditional Christmas theme. You will have such fun. Planning ahead will keep you on top of things. Love your energy you are an awesome Mom Already I wish I could come and see how a few turn out.

Hello E.,
My kids were born on Dec 5th, 1980 and December 29th 1981. As you noticed they are now 26 and 25. I always celebrated their birthdays separate!! They also had christmas!! To this day I still do their birthdays and christmas separately. Somehow we will were always able to do this for them!! I think it is important because they are individual persons and should have their own special celebrations! They always had their own themes for their birthday parties. To this day they have always thanked me for this!! It was work but alot of fun!! I love my Kids(they will never stop being your little ones.)!!!
Sincerely,
L. Jacobs

E.-

I am also a mother of young children, but I have Feb. boys, twins, they are 6. I always have to come up with things due to there being nothing to really do in Feb. as well. But I was a Christmas time baby, actually new years eve (12/31), which can be even worse trying to compete with everything or get a reservation, or find an uncliche theme thats not cheesy. I did one year however, on my 21st birthday, have a Christmas themed party and it was like the game "Candyland". It was obviously kid freindly because I have children as well do my freinds, but all the moms dressed up like the girls off the game also, I was the "candy cane girl" b/c it was my birthday, but you could let them just be characters and have everyone dress the part. We also decorated with jars full of colored candy and things we made accordingly (candycane hopscotch, made tiaras with candy not that they last but it was fun). We decorated the gingerbread kits you can get a publix, I asked the store manager if we could order a box of them which was like 40, which ended up being about $150 I think and we all did them. You can go as big or small obviously as you want to, we did ours the night of Christmas, so it was after the presents and all to have something to do after all the hype of that morning. Everyone usually goes into zombie mode. But I was an adult and we were working with the weekend timeframes. For the kids, maybe even doing it the day before Christmas Eve while everyone is in the spirit, and let them have all the gifts from siblings, gparents, aunts, freinds, etc., then Christmas morning can all be from you and dad and maybe small things from others in the immediate family so they dont feel left out. At this age, they just like the paper and bows anyways, and do not know the difference in who gave them what, mine are 6, and still just worried about what Santa brought. I had a great time with it, yes I did have to go purchase the game at Toys R Us and sit down and look it over to remember things, and get ideas, but it really was a great time. Hope this helps.

My son was born on the 30th of December. I usually have a little birthday party for him on that day. Inviting of course my husband and myself, and my best frient and her 2 sons. We all get him something VERY, VERY inexpensive, just enough to pacify him at that time and then we have cake. We usually wait about 2 to 3 a couple times 4 weeks and then we have a BIG party for him. That way it gives everyone a little bit of a break and he can invite more friends and everyone does not try to wrap him Chrismas and Birthday into one! It has worked for 8 years now and that's what we plan to keep doing. Good Luck!

My daughter was born on the 11th of December.
next year we are doing a 1/2 & 1/2 birthday.Rachel never gets to play in the sun and the pool so
in the summer we are having "friends" birthday. Our family will have the one in December.

or we might have both of hers in the summer so outside fun is an option

My family seems to love the holiday / birthday idea.

I am a Christmas baby (Dec 20) and my sister is a 4th of July baby (Jul 2). My mother, to this day, celebrates my birthday separate from Christmas and my sister's separate from the 4th.

My daughter was born near Thanksgiving (Nov 25 - every 4 years her birthday actually falls on Thanksgiving Day) and my son is near Valentine's day (Feb 17). Two of my nieces are the same. One is near Valentines (Feb 11) and the other is near Easter (Apr 9 - every 4 years or so her birthday actually falls on Easter Sunday).

We celebrate the birthday as a birthday and the holiday as a holiday - even if means two parties on one day. My niece and my son used to like the idea of sharing a party because they are so close in date range - my son is older but he likes jess, so he didn't mind sharing.

As long as the babies are small, they may like the idea of sharing a birthday party. I don't think it will be an issue until they are in school and then you can do cupcakes with their classes while they are in elementary. When they reach middle school, they won't care so much for the school idea, but may be close enough as friends to like the idea of still sharing the party.

My mother's opinion was always our birthday is our birthday and the holiday is the holiday. My ex-husband's birthday is Dec 26 and we always celebrated it separate from Christmas also.

My son is 3. His birthday is December 29th :) I feel your pain! We decided that since his birthday was so close to Christmas and New Years that we would still celebrate his birthday, but also celebrate a 1/2 birthday.... which would fall on June 29th. This way he isn't getting stuck with all his presents at once, and he can have a 1/2 birthday party (with one or two friends & our family) and we can do something "not cold" Like have a pool party or a trip to the Zoo or something like that. And then we are planning on giving him a couple small gifts or one good size gift. We won't get him a cake but we will all go out to eat and make a day of it. The only issue we are running into now is that we have a second son who is 7 months. Should we give him a 1/2 birthday too?? It never ends :) What to do? What to do? There are worse things on the planet to have to worry about and I'm glad this is all I have to worry about right now :) Best of Luck, Jen

Hi E.,

Being a Christmas baby myself (December 23rd), I personally loved my birthday that time of the year as a kid. Like other people above, my mom always made it a point to have a party for me a few weeks early so it would be it's on special ocassion and on my birthday it was just family. (So I was lucky & had 2 cakes! :)) She also made it a point to never combine gifts, etc. I only started doing that when I was older if I wanted something expense & just had them combine Christmas & birthday, so I lucked out!She used to get me all psyched out by having me help decorate the house & tree in time for my party so "I would have extra special decorations in addition to my birthday party decorations." Maybe that explains why I'm such a Christmas nut & go all out w/decorations?! But she always did do birthday decorations too. I guess b/c my mom used to emphasize to friends & family that she didn't want my bday to get lost in the shuffle, people actually used to go all out for me b/c they felt bad. So, I made out like a bandit as a kid! :)

I personally aren't that big on the 1/2 year parties. To me, it just kind of seems like then your actual bday wouldn't have as much meaning and/or all the anticipation that goes along w/it. I would just emphasize & make it more fun to have the two parties. One a few weeks early for friends & one on the birthday for family--even if it's just your very immediate family. If your extended family can't do both days on their actual bdays, then invite them to the party a few weeks early. But I do feel it's important for each person to have their own special day. Both my in-law's birthdays are in December (6th & 29th), so along w/mine we're pretty busy. I always make it a point to celebrate everyone's birthday seperately on their birthday (or close to it if we can't all get together on that day). I won't combine the days to celebrate everyone's together just b/c it's easier to do, even though we're all adults. I feel your birthday is your one very special day of the year and you should feel special on that day. Just my two cents.

Hope that helps. Sorry for rambling.

Good luck,
L. :)

My birthday is the 21st of Dec. So I understand how they will feel. Birthdays will be hard no matter how hard you try to make it special. Because schools will be out and all their friends will have other holiday plans with their families. Parties don't usually work because everyone is so busy. Just have family set aside a birthday gift instead of the dreaded combined gift. And be sure to wrap the birthday gifts in something other than Christmas paper. You could always have a special "half" birthday celebration in the summer when they get older. What they'll remember most is the effort you go to trying to make it special. Cook their favorite meal, make a cake and spend a day doing what they want. It will probably end up being just close family during these times and that's not necessarily a bad thing.:o)

My daughter and nephew were born 2 days apart 20 and 22nd of Dec. My sister and I requested that all birthday presents be seperate from Christmas presents wrapping and all. The only one that combines them is my grandmother but out of respect for my elders I say nothing. And it wasn't until this year that I combined 1 present but she is 13 the only down draw to being a christmas baby is no b-day parties so I always let my daughter invite one friend to help celebrate her birthday. Hope this contributes something.

Start getting presents now for their b days to help lighten the load at Christmas. Be sure to plan individual paries for each of them and explain to friends and family that you dont want Christmas/birthday presents. They wouldnt do that if their bdays were in june would they?Just be sure to put emphasis on their idndividual days and you shouldnt have a problem. Good luck.

A.

I have a 4 year old who was born on Christmas Eve, so I feel your pain! This past Christmas is the first year other than her 1st birthday that we actually made a somewhat deal out of it. We just have a small party at our house with family members and a couple of close friends. We make sure that we do not do it on Christmas Eve because then people tend to want to bring Christmas presents for the other children as well. I don't think that is fair to my little Chloe as it is HER day... not anyone else's. We had considered the idea of throwing her a 1/2 birthday party in June so that her friends parents would not be so burdened by the Christmas season and just have a family only gathering on their actually birthday. We are going to start that when she gets into elementary school. Hope that helps a little bit

Hi E.. I didn't have any advise on this particular topic, but I found it amazing that our first names are the same and one of our daughters names are the same, Naomi. I have 2 daughters Naomi (3) & Jada (1). Anyway God bless and all the best with the birthday ideas.

I have a son that was born on Dec 15. Luckily it happens to be his daddy's birthday too, so that makes it kind of special in itself. We have always had a party just as if it were any other time of the year. (People do attend!) And MAKE SURE everyone uses birthday paper and not Christmas paper. My husband always felt jipped when people used Christmas paper and made comments like "this is for your birthday and Christmas". He never had parties because his mom was too busy getting ready for Christmas. You just HAVE to make the time, they can't help it if WE timed it wrong and had them on the holidays. Also, my mother-in-law will give him his 1/2 birthday present. She never did that for her own son, but does for her grandson. He gets his big present from her in June and he always looks forward to that. Unfortunately you have two, and that might get hard since they won't want to have a double party. You might could work that out somehow. But since they are close in age, they will eventually have like friends. Good Luck, it will all work out and don't stress too much. All they want are goodie bags!!!!!!

R.