Kids with Birthdays near Christmas.

[ghosty]

How do other Mumsnetters find this? It isn't too bad for us but bad enough ... DS is 30th November and DD is 3rd February.

I find the 11 month gap between the birthdays and xmas hard. Especially as we have the whole NZ winter to face (long and boring and wet with no Christmas to cheer us up, whereas summer has lovely weather, Christmas AND school summer holidays all rolled into one ...) Usually around June/july time we go away for a little holiday to break up the monotony and we get the children each a 'mid year' something to keep them going ...

But my problem is: I spend most of November focussing on DS's birthday .... then on the 1st December I panic thinking, "$hit, it's only 4 weeks to Christmas!" Now, obviously neither date changes ... his birthday has been the same for 7 years and Christmas has been the same for 2000 year ... so why can't I get organised (or, at least I AM organised but have a big panic in December).
Then I am so worn out after Christmas that poor DD has so far had pathetic celebrations ... (she has had 2 birthdays so far) a cake is all I can manage.

If you have kids' birthdays near Christmas what do you do to get through?

DS1 has his birthday on the 15th December. I make sure that he gets birthday pressies and also seperate Christmas pressies.

It made me organised. There was no way I was heaving my great lump around the shops in December so I was done by 1st November. Habit that I've kept since then. (Though this year I'll be finished by the 20th November cos I has a busy October)

You sound dead organised, ML. How do you know it'll be done by Nov 20th??? [nosey emoticon]

Cos I'm a stubborn moo and I refuse to shop in December when I could be attending cool Christmas drinks parties, Christmas lunches etc........

ds is November and I definitely don't think about Xmas till his party/birthday is out of the way! But then again, we are not huge Xmas fans so it's not really the end of the world if we only get one or two days to plan/buy for Xmas.

I am in the same boat,dd1 birthday is 26th nov and dd2 is 11th jan plus it is also my dads ,dp's ,god daughter,and 3 friends birthdays in between .Which is why i have been dragging dp around the shops with me for the last month ,we just buy a few things for the dd's each week and then split in into piles for birthday and christmas .
It is a pain though having all the expense at one time of year.

Marslady ... Have I told you I love you and want to be just like you when I grow up?

1st November? Wow!

I have done my Christmas Cake ... so that is something off my mind ...

This year I have to get UK presents organised and sent (often do it online though, and get my sister or SIL to take delivery, wrap and distribute) ... we are talking presents for 15 people (2 brothers, one sister, 2 SILs, one BIL, 9 kids, PLUS my best friend and her two kids)
I have to get NZ extended family presents (SIL and her DH will be here this year)
My parents are coming for Christmas and my Dad is celebrating his 70th birthday here just after New Year so I have to organise that too (not that I mind, I am delighted he will be here)
SIL and her DH are having their belated wedding celebrations on the 22nd December so we have to fly down there on the 21st and come back on the 23rd.
We are organising to move to Aus mid January.
I have to send christmas cards before mid November to get the cheap postage to the UK .... last year I managed A - K in my address book and then gave up ... I think I will do from L onwards this year ... that way at least people will get a card every other year from us.

Also the cost! Birthdays so close to christmas AND Christmas visitors ... we are always so skint in February ...

I love you too ghosty! I'll come visit you in Aus and help you get organised!

Should add up better ... have to buy for 19 people in the UK before we have even looked at our own family

She Love Me

My birthday is 4 days before christmas, dh is in January and Ds in Feb.

I get my last pay for the year (paid 4 times a year) in Oct, and don't get any more until half way through Feb. Our life insurance, house, contents and car insurance all fall due in January. We also go on our big holiday of the year in January.

Every fortnight during the rest of the year I put money in a savings account. It is the only way we would manage. Once I finish work in Mid December I also sell all of ds's old toys, clothes etc. on Trade Me.

Don't know. DS is 18th Nov and DC2 should have been last Saturday so we are going to have a very busy Autumn/Christmas period. My birthday is in July, so I find it difficult to get my head around everything happening in a couple of months. I am trying to buy Christmas presents and birthday presents at the same time as I can't face Christmas shopping in December.

my dd's is the 17th dec , I dont put any xmas cards up until I have had her birthday cards up .
I always make sure I have all her presents and all my christmas presents done by the end of november cant be doing with goinng xmas shopping when really busy.

Trademe Threebob ... that's another thing on my list ...
I've got loads to get rid of ....

DS is 28th December and DD is 17th Feb, so very similar to yours, Ghosty. Also both DH and his mum are Dec 11th (and so was DH's gran, but she's no longer with us) So it's a very expensive time. I shop for DS's Christmas and birthday at the same time, though I have only once got a 'joint' present for him, when he asked himself if he could have a very expensive games table.
DS himself hated having his birthday so close to christmas - he said once that everyone else got a time to be excited about their birthday coming up, he didn't,because everyone else was excited too, about Christmas

HI Christmas will be a true challenge this year! DD1 will be 7 on 15th Dec & dd3 1 on Dec 20th ---HELP!!! Any advice to make things easier greatly appreciated!

DD1 her birthday is on 24th Oct DD2 her birthday is on 16th Sept DTs Christmas eve and DS2 his birthday is on 21st April

I've got ds on 25 nov and dd on 27 dec. Before ds I got organised and did all my xmas shopping my mid october as I did not want to go around busy shops with a tiny baby in a pram. I kept this going when pregnant with dd as like ML I did not drag my big lump + a toddler around the shops. So now it's become a habbit and a bit of a sport to keep my eyes peeled throughout the year for great bargains and most of my x-mas shopping is now done by mid november and most of it at a cheaper price as well.

ds2 16th Aug
ds4 27th Sept
dd 13th oct
ds3 24th Dec
ds1 6th Jan

and mine 1st Jan

Think I win with birthdays near Christmas!!!

My sons birthday is xmas day will be 10 this year and I take all the xmas cards down so that his bday cards have pride of place and we alternate bday food one year and xmas food another. We always have a bday cake and seperate presents for him, it's a lot of money in one go but I can't complain I didn't get the timing right and on top of that its my dads on 23rd and my brothers 28th.

The only things my son complains about is that there is nowhere open but as he has got older he understands more and we try and make up for it on xmas eve or boxing day.

Ds2 has his birthday on 21st December and mine is 31st December. As far as I am concerned, I am used to it - know no different - but ds2's birthday I find a real pain as I can never think of enough presents for him to cover both celebrations. When he was little, it was hell on earth as he always got overexcited and was always ill or highly strung on his birthday, but now he is a little better (though still going on constantly about his forthcoming birthday from about now until the day).

nephew Nov 9th
FIL nov 22nd
my dad is dec 3rd
MIL dec 5th
Dutch Sinterklaas (we are half Dutch so celebrate this, is dec 5th)
dh dec 9th
dd dec 14th....
also, dd's two best friends are nov 7th and nov 15th...

come jan we are bankrupt....

We've got DS's birthday on 22 Dec and DD on 8 Jan, which is a bit too close for comfort. DS is only going to be 3, so we haven't really had to do anything major in the way of parties yet. It's actually quite nice to have DD's birthday to focus on when things are a bit flat after Christmas and New Year. Only problem is that it does mean getting party invitations out before school breaks up for Christmas, which is a bit of a struggle.

Ok I can do better than what I've written before:
ds 25 nov
SINTERKLAAS as well as Peegee
dd 27 nov
me 8 jan - I got 2 in 1 presents all the time and I've vowed never to do that to my daughter. Although I must admit that she'll be 3 and she hasn't had a b'day party yet , poor thing .
Anyway we've always got an enormous pile of new toys in dec and than nothing for ages. I do wish it was a bit more spread out.

mine are 28th dec and 17 th jan to be 6 an 4 this year
last year we did them a joint party at the end of jan after we had been paid so the girls had something good to look forward to butb the same problem lots of toys and gifts at xmas then nothing til nxt christmas.

I heard of someone (possibly on MN) who had an 'official' birthday in the summer, because they were so fed up with their Christmas birthda - it was their half birthday, and they'd have half a birthday cake, and people would send them half a card etc. OK for adults, but kids need something a bit more immediate, I think. Couldn't make them wait that long.