A Christmas Birthday: Keeping Your Child from Getting Lost in the Fuss

A Christmas birthday can leave the birthday boy or girl feeling cheated. Everyone else gets their very own "special day" that is all about them, and the Christmas birthday is shared with, well, everyone. Besides this, Christmas does have a tendency to overshadow the birthday, with the result being that some people will probably even forget entirely to acknowledge it.

So, how can you prevent your Christmas birthday boy or girl from getting lost in the fuss? There must be a way of making their "special day" just as special as everyone else's, without detracting from your Christmas celebration. (Yes, I do realize that sharing a birthday with Jesus does make it special. This is not likely to be all the comfort that is necessary to a child who feels ignored.) All you have to do is create a new Christmas tradition - and incorporate some birthday traditions.

Perhaps one of the best ways to start a Christmas tradition for a family with a Christmas birthday is to separate the day. Consider whether the other birthday celebrations in your family focus on a certain time of the day, and what times you have traditionally done your Christmas activities.

For example, you may choose to do the traditional Christmas morning Mass, presents and stockings. If you follow this up with your full Christmas meal early in the day, you can have the late afternoon/evening open for the birthday celebration.

You can then have a separate time for birthday games, presents, and anything else that you do for the other birthdays in your family. The birthday boy or girl could choose the menu for the later (light) meal, followed by cake and ice cream. Also, you can include any of the child's friends or any other of your family members who may be available.

Instead, you may prefer to designate a "birthday observed", to create more convenient separation. This way, all of your Christmas traditions and Masses can be celebrated without rearranging, and your birthday boy or girl will have their "special day" all to themselves. This would also make it much easier to involve family members or they child's friends, as they may not be available on Christmas day.

No matter how you chose to celebrate it, it is important to be aware that having a birthday on Christmas, though some would say it is a great honor, may not be a very great thing in the eyes of a child. Understanding your child's frustrations, and working to make both occasions happy memories, is a better path than insisting that your child appreciate the gift of sharing their birthday with Jesus.