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Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

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Original poster

Kids with birthdays really close to Christmas day! WDYD

43 replies

pipkin35 · 23/11/2010 16:02

DS will be 3 on 20th December.

What do you all do if you have kids with birthdays really close to Xmas, and they're still quite little...?!

How do you avoid the over excitement of constant presents etc...for 5-6 days in a row but then nothing for the rest of the year?!

As in, do you give main present for birthday or Xmas?

Do you have a party?! Most people/friends can't attend so close to Christmas because they're going away etc...

Any ideas or hearing others experiences would be great. I find it very useful...
Thanks

OP posts:

stropicana · 23/11/2010 18:29

Oviously harder the closer to xmas you get.

TabithaTwitchet · 23/11/2010 18:33

Our children are exactly the same age Pipkin :)
I have been thinking about this myself. On her first birthday we gave her the bigger present on her birthday, last year it was for Christmas. Haven't decided what way round to do things this year. To be honest, I probably do buy her less than I would have done at Christmas, because I don't want her to have an overwhelming number of presents.

We have had a small party a few days before her actual birthday both years and haven't put the Christmas decorations up until after her birthday (not that she noticed!) Will have a birthday tea party on the day itself this year.

Suncottage · 23/11/2010 18:34

TKBand3

I am a Christmas Eve birthday - and I agree - joint presents - crap when you are a kid - birthday presents wrapped up in Christmas paper - how could I tell them apart and yes the Christmas card with 'Happy Birthday' written in it.

Doesn't bother me at all now but Mum and Dad made it clear it was my birthday and I always had a HUGE party with magicians, puppet shows, film shows etc.

I must admit that I sometimes feel a little sad that I can never organise a birthday party - my 21st, 30th and 40th pretty much passed without comment - everyone is away or rushed off their feet.

Fenouille · 23/11/2010 19:00

Second, third, etc. a separate day like the Queen's official birthday. I have a Christmas birthday but my parents always celebrated it on my saint's day, which is in the summer. If worked really well, but I'm a bit of those suggesting extra birthday presents on the real birthday as well - it was either/or for me. Where do I put in a complaint?

neverenoughMEtime · 23/11/2010 20:39

My DD will be 1 on new years eve. I have bought her quite a few presents for christmas and a big one for her birthday (plus a few little ones too!)

I plan to put the decs up on 1st dec, then take them down on 30th dec and replace with birthday banners and balloons. Im going to take DD1 and the birthday DD out on new years eve somewhere nice and then when DH gets home from work we will have a tea party and some cake. We will also start letting off a firework at midnight which we have never done on NYE :) to celebrate DD's birthday.

Im going to just treat it like DD1's birthdays, still special, normal amount of presents and no sign of christmas apart from masses of new toys everywhere :)

TopsyAndTimsMum · 23/11/2010 21:16

My dts will be 4 on 30th Dec. Last year I read on here about others taking down decs early, so did that thinking I was so organised and dts cried when they saw the room so will have all decorations up this year. We have a family party on the day and plan to arrange parties on the following weekend when they hit school age.

I expect that at some point they'll receive one joint birthday & christmas card to share between them .

fridayschild · 23/11/2010 22:02

my niece has her 5th birthday on 19 December. I have sent her 2 presents but - now I understand committed the sin of sins - used the same non-festive wrapping paper for both. And for her sister's christmas present..... will she ever speak to me again?

Ds1 has a friend who will be 8 on Christmas Day. He gets a half year party on 25th June.

QOD · 23/11/2010 22:14

My dd is the 17th December - she doesnt care a hoot about xmas wrapping paper on presents. But yes, important people don't treat them different to any other niece/nephew/grandchild etc

When she was little I also used to spirit stuff away and give it to her bit at a time

yorkshirepuddings · 23/11/2010 22:42

We have a DS with a birthday on Boxing Day. Bit surprised by the number of people celebrating on a date in the summer. We wouldn't even consider this - he's not the Queen! Neither would we take decorations down. He usually has a party on 28 December for his friends. Sometimes there are problems with friends being busy visiting relatives etc. But friends being unavailable could happen at any time of the year.

I think he probably does get less presents, but he has plenty of stuff and it has never been a problem for him. I've also wrapped his presents in Christmas paper - he didn't care. Also forgot to get him a birthday card once - he didn't notice.

I would suggest that you focus on all the positives. He's always found that a birthday on Boxing Day is a great day to celebrate. We are always with lots of extended family, everybody is relaxed, nobody has to go to work, no school and it's an easy date for everybody else to remember.

A birthday near Christmas can actually be loads of fun. Adds to the excitement of the whole festive period.

TeaOneSugar · 23/11/2010 23:01

DD's is on the 16th Dec, we have her party as early as possible ( the weekend before usually), and send the invitations really early, otherwise IME you can struggle for numbers.

Christmas decorations don't go up until after her birthday.

She doesn't expect a huge birthday present and a party, (trying to teach her our finances aren't a bottomless pit) so she gets a couple of small/medium presents, usually surprises.

For christmas 9 days later she gets one main present, a stocking and a few small presents like books, new felt tips, clothes etc.

My FIl's birthday is boxing day, one year his twin forgot to send him a card !!!

TeaOneSugar · 23/11/2010 23:02

Also, as her birthday is always in the last week of term it's usually the day they have the christmas party/disco/panto trip, which she thinks is great.

iwastooearlytobeayummymummy · 23/11/2010 23:05

This is pain, as DD3 is 27 Dec
We do buy her a seperate present and usually go to the pictures and for a family meal, but parties are impossible, and she hasn't ever celebrated with friends on her birthday as they are all away visiting relatives.

When she was younger we held a late party in mid Jan usually,(once in mid June ) but now in her teens, no firm celebrations on the horizon.

shesadancer · 23/11/2010 23:06

DD1 birthday is boxing day and we love it!
we make sure she has the same number of presents as the other kids and though we usually leave her party until the schools go back we always go somewhere special on the day , this yer we are going to see disney on ice , i cant wait! It keeps the christmas feeling going for longer :)

Guitargirl · 23/11/2010 23:08

Both of my children have birthdays close to Christmas. I agree with all the posters who say just as much fuss as if the birthdays were in the summer or any other unrelated time of the year. I do NOT however agree with celebration of a 'conception' day. If I had had such a day celebrated when I was a child I would have been mortified to be honest.

tummytickler · 24/11/2010 12:11

ds will be 8 on 21st December. He loves the fact the house is decorated for his birthday with the CChristmas decs.
We usually have a small family party on his birthday (having learnt the lesson in the past that a lot of people are unable to come to a party over Christmas), with a special night out alone with me and dh in the evening (cinema and meal - he is one of 4 dc's so he really likes this).
Then he will have his party with his friends at the end of January/beginning of February. He also gets to buy a present for himself in July (he gets £30 and can buy whatever he wants), so he does not have to wait a whole year for presents.
He really enjoys this set up, as he feels as though he has lots of special days, so hopefully we are making it work ok (for now!).
No to joint presents / cards / wrapping.

lowrib · 26/11/2010 13:05

DS's birthday is Christmas Eve.

It's his 2nd this year so we're fairly new to this but what we're doing is having a birthday party a week before Christmas. Then his cousins will be coming over on his actual birthday on Christmas Eve, and I expect we'll go out somewhere for a treat with them. As he gets older I guess we might have one or two of his friends over on his actual birthday (as well as his party a week before). I expect their parents might be glad to pass them over for a couple of hours so they can get on with Christmas preparations.

Last year we put away toys which were a bit too old for him - or summery (e.g. beach stuff) and then gave them to him in July, on a sort of half birthday. I don't like the idea of buying more presents for a half birthday as the amount he gets at this time of year from family is huge anyway, but putting some of the stuff away worked well for us so I think we might carry on doing this.

One of my family friends has a Christmas birthday, and his mum hosted a birthday party for him every year, which was combined with Christmas drinks for adults.
It was a lovely part of the Christmas tradition for all the families involved - some of them we only saw once a year at this party! As my friend got older, he got another more traditional birthday party for his school mates, but they carried on doing this party too.
Once we've put down roots (we'll move again before DS starts school) I'd like to start doing this every year too.

lowrib · 26/11/2010 13:06

No, it was June, not July! I can't count

lowrib · 26/11/2010 13:08

"I do NOT however agree with celebration of a 'conception' day. If I had had such a day celebrated when I was a child I would have been mortified to be honest."

I think a conception day is a nice thing to mark with a special meal or something, but for the parents, not the DCs.

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