Birthday on Christmas Day

This is within your power to fix. Why haven’t you for so many years as an adult?

Options

• Throw a birthday celebration/party for yourself every year in early December or mid Jan. Then you get a day of celebration away from Christmas and people can’t be tight with the combined presents.
• Pretend that your birthday is the 24th or 26th of December with your family at home - a day where the focus is on you and not shared with Christmas Day. Its just a date, does it make any difference whatsoever doing it the day before or after?
• Move your birthday celebrations to June 25th and host a birthday BBQ when the weather is nicer and it’s your half birthday.

Or you can just continue to wallow and feel sorry for yourself every Dec 25th and ruin your birthday and Christmas every year. Up to you.

A friend celebrates their birthday on Christmas Day afternoon. So the morning is Christmas for everyone and the afternoon is a birthday tea and cake.

Except that isn't their real birthday and they will want to celebrate on the actual day!

And maybe the half year too 😂

Could you have a half birthday? I think this is becoming more and more of a ‘thing’. If I had a December birthday, I’d have a party in June - better weather and no excuses about Christmas!

My birthday is mid Jan and my pet peeve is receiving discounted Xmas tat for my birthday, and getting a happy birthday and thank you card (for Xmas presents) in one. It's very thoughtless.

I think the suggestions of celebrating on a different day sounds good if your happy with that make it more special

Not Christmas but my dp birthday is January and it's hard work with that and Christmas

Celebrate your half birthday!!!! You deserve the joy of a birthday party!

I'm Xmas day too OP, and if I'd had a half birthday it'd be the same week as my sibling's actual birthday so no good either. It is a bit crappy but it's up to you and your family to make it better for you - make it clear you want a birthday cake, or presents in birthday paper, or to celebrate the week before or whatever would be better for you.

I personally open my birthday presents once all Xmas presents have been opened (a challenge when DC were young!) though in the past have done opening my presents on Xmas eve too. And generally have a birthday cake later in the week or just when I fancy. And never in my life have I had to go to school or work on my birthday, so there's that.

Have an extra birthday, like the Queen did, or better still cancel the one you have and reassign it. June is a good time to celebrate outdoors, and you will instantly become 6 months younger.

I hate my birthday so for me would be ideal to be on Christmas day and have it and Christmas out of the way in one go. You're totally not unreasonable to want your birthday properly recognised.

DD is 23rd. We've managed to keep it properly separate so far. She has her own special tree that is actually a Christmas tree but it's a 3 ft pink one she gets to put up outside her bedroom and put her birthday presents under it well away from the actual Christmas tree and presents.

My birthday is on Christmas Day and I love it - wouldn't change it to an ordinary day.
Always have a double celebration!!

How about a half birthday June 25th?

We celebrate my friends half birthday on 25th June, have done since we were students. She gets a present on that day and a card on 25th Dec. Good excuse to all get together for a BBQ or beer garden lunch.

Half birthday celebrations here too.

25th June, nice outdoor summer party, presents from friends and extended family.

For Christmas day itself (actual birthday) family would come to our house in the morning, everyone would say happy birthday and give birthday cards, we'd have a birthday brunch and a Colin the caterpillar, and then everyone would go off to celebrate Christmas however they'd like to.

I have a friend whose birthday is 25th December and she always celebrates her half-birthday. It's a lovely tradition and easier for buying her gifts too!

One of my DCs' birthday is the 28th December. He's always had a birthday present in birthday wrapping. We've usually done a party in January, so that's always something to look forward to in the new year. To be honest, my family and friends have always been good at acknowledging his birthday. My sisters birthday is the 30th December. One year, I didn't get her a present. I don't know why, I think I just forgot. I felt so bad. I've never forgotten since. I did give her a voucher, but it was an afterthought.

My birthday is Christmas Day. I don’t mind it tbh, I have never received a birthday present in Christmas wrap and always had separate celebrations. When I was younger I’d go out for a birthday night out with friends like a week before Christmas and now me and DH will go for a meal or something. As a child birthday presents were given in an afternoon with birthday cake to keep them separate from the Christmas presents. I’ve never understood the half birthday celebrations but each to their own

My son’s birthday is on December 27. When he was a child we always held his party at the beginning of the month because the fortnight before and after Christmas is just hopeless for children’s birthday parties. For the first 11 years we also always had a big family party on December 27, but year after year the aunts and uncles would arrive saying “Happy Christmas!” and completely forget to say “Happy Birthday”. They would all bring Christmas presents for each other too (lots of kids) so the birthday presents kind of got subsumed in a sea of Christmas presents - and very often he would get joint presents too, so then he basically missed out on getting a birthday present. We always worked really hard to keep referencing his birthday and he always had a cake etc but no one other than my husband and I made any real effort to remember him. We switched to going on family days out (Zoo, farm park, golf fun park, theatre, Ripley’s Believe it or Not etc) and that worked much better through his teens.

What if it's someone who wouldn't normally send you a birthday card? If it was an aunt you don't see much any more I would think it quite sweet they remembered.

YANBU

But I admittedly used to be one of those mums who combined these.
My DS is 11 two days after Christmas, and every year before his 10th birthday we always used to combine the celebrations because Christmas was so hectic (so no birthday presents, no proper cake). But last year some Mumsnetters actually pointed out how shit it was for him, and last year he had his first proper birthday. Separate presents in birthday paper, a birthday pizza (he doesnt like cake much), and asked relatives to separate the two as well

My birthday is also Christmas day so i totally feel your pain, we always go out for dinner a few days before to celebrate, I cannot stand the christmas cards with " ps, have a nice birthday" written at the bottom either lol

Yeah my sons birthday is Boxing day ,it's really difficult trying to make it special, it's his 18 th this year too!

I like the suggestion of celebrating on the relevant saints day - if you are lucky enough to have the same name as a saint.
Do you know what time you were born? If it isn't in the middle of the night you could have a thing where at that time everything Christmasy stops for a hour. You have a birthday cake, open your birthday gifts and do some silly party games like pin the tale on the donkey.

oh OP that’s not good you feel that way. Try celebrating your half birthday! The weather would be warmer for you. Just start this year and see how you go