A Very Merry Birthday: Keeping Birthday’s Special for Christmas Babies

Birthday and Christmas, Happy Birthmas!

By: Amber Clouthier

Happy Birthmas!

A couple of years ago while browsing for a birthday card for my husband I came across a card that disturbed me. No, it wasn’t something inappropriately raunchy or annoyingly musical. It was a simple card with a simple two word message; “Merry Birthmas!” My poor husband suffers the fate of many December babies wherein some people think that it’s ok to just mesh all the celebrations into one big holiday. However, I for one was a little horrified.  I’ve never seen a “Happy Hallowbirth” card or a “Happy Birthentines Day” card? What is it about the holiday season that makes it alright?

Flash forward a few years to April of 2012, my husband and I sat holding hands in a doctor’s office as the doctor confirmed that I was indeed pregnant. I remember very clearly how she pulled out her little wheel of fortune to give me my estimated due date- December 22nd.  We looked at each other and I could see the dismay in my husband’s eyes; another December birthday, another Christmas time baby.  While I tried my very best to keep our son born as far away from Christmas as possible, the nurse insisted I wait two hours to push despite being apparently ready and our son was born December 23rd at 12:09 am.

Special Traditions for Christmas Babies

My husband assures me that growing up his parents made sure to make his birthday as special as they could, but with Christmas just around the corner it couldn’t help but infringe on his day a little. Of course the Christmas season, according to some stores anyway, now begins on November 1st before the jack-o-lanterns have even had a chance to become a little creepier with decomposition and a good frost.  How am I supposed to keep my son’s birthday separate? How can I make sure it isn’t just another day on the rush to Christmas?

I’m doing my best to start some special traditions this year. I’m asking friends and family members to write our son a letter to include in a memory box. I’m also going to get a special board that we can measure him on each year. I’d like to say that our complete lack of Christmas decor on the main level is part of the tradition to keep Christmas entirely separate from birthdays too, but it’s really just because I know my son would be trying to climb the tree the moment I turned my back.

It’s How You Look at It

My best friend who also has a Christmastime birthday however had another perspective for me.  She says that she really loves having her birthday near Christmas and that her parents always made her feel like it was something very special.  Like most things I suppose it’s all how you look at it. I for one am hoping that my son has a very merry, I mean, happy birthday.

Amber Clouthier is a new mom to a boy born in December 2012. She lives in Ottawa, Ontario with her husband who is a self proclaimed geek and she knows more about Dungeons and Dragons than she would like to admit. In her spare moments she used to love to bake, read and take long baths. Now she is happy to get a five minute shower and take a nap. Please don’t take her too seriously because she sure doesn’t.

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