austin-moms-blog-celebrating-a-december-baby

(me! me!) Yes, if you are one of the “lucky” ones that live a perpetual cycle of the movie Sixteen Candles (33 years for me on December 30th) then you know what it’s like to celebrate your birthday in the month that only a rare few care it’s your birthday. They are busy celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, football bowl games, New Year’s Eve, or just the fact they have off work or school. {Insert woe as me music here}

If you happen to have a kiddo that WILL or DOES to fall into this category, I’m writing this for you. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I remember hearing people say they specifically tried not to get pregnant when they knew their dear daughter or son would be born in December. I think that’s a shame AND also can’t always be helped of course. I LOVE my birthday despite many giving me a cringe face when I tell them the day — the people I love celebrate with me and it’s wonderful. Over the years you’ll realize as well it’s not as bad as you imagine and I have some advice for you to make this season a special time for your December baby.

There are fabulous things about having a December birthday kiddo — family is usually in town that might not normally be, it’s a great tax deduction to have a child at the end of the year, and you could get deals on their presents during Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

Don’t let your child’s birthday get swept up in the madness of the holidays. You want them to feel just as special as if their birthday fell in any other part of the year. Here are some do and donts to celebrate those December babies:

Do:

  • Try to hold a party as close as possible to their actual birthday. I remember when I was in elementary school, I convinced my parents to throw me a Halloween birthday party because I was always so sad friends couldn’t make my party at the end of December. Turns out that was just confusing and wasn’t really a “birthday” celebration for me — it was a Halloween party. Stay close to the birthday because the day they were born was special regardless of when it was.
  • Despite the day — even if it’s Christmas Day — have cupcakes, light some candles, and even invite some neighbors over to celebrate with your kiddo. It doesn’t have to be big — it’s the feeling they get about celebrating. You don’t want them to feel like their birthday is neglected just because it falls in December.
  • Don’t just give them winter items or things that fall just for this time period — give ones that will last beyond the holidays. This is their ONE time period in the year to ask for gifts. Just because you don’t think they need that tricycle in December because it’s cold out, get it for them because they feel it’s their one shot to get their birthday gift.

Don’t:

  • NEVER wrap your child’s gifts in Christmas wrapping paper. Would you do that in July?
  • Do a “combo” gift as one big gift — it’s a birthday AND a holiday.
  • Unless they are major fans of the holiday, resist the urge to use a Christmas theme to decorate. Instead pick THEIR favorite thing — pirates, princesses, pink, blue, Daniel Tiger, etc.

What do you do to make your December baby feel special?

1 COMMENT

  1. Great post! My daughter was due Dec. 26 and was born Jan. 2, so I totally understand and love this article. I try to really make sure our daughter feels special on her birthday and that it isn’t a ‘leftover’ from Christmas. I agree with all the Do’s and Don’ts and remember people making faces and ‘feeling sorry’ for my daughter when I was pregnant – people, trust me, she gets lots of love and attention and we make her feel special every day, ha!

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