Do you Feel that Christmas Season Birthdays are as Important as the Rest?

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Maddy Olson blogs on a variety of subjects that are deep topics and can change lives. Writing for the boys’ birthday party supplier partypail.com is a very rewarding passion she enjoys. Having four sons of her own has prompted her write about the parties she has planned and hosted.

I dread the fall and winter seasons coming. I want to hang onto the warmth of summer and I don’t like the whole “back to school” hassle. Even more than that, all four of my sons are fall and winter kids: One in September, two in November, and one in January. Not only that, but I have five step-kids that have things going on, like anniversaries! And then there is my brother’s birthday right smack dab in the middle of December. Ugh. So throwing Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas into the mix is enough to drive me crazy. How do you have a wonderful holiday season and still have the money to celebrate the birthdays too? How tempting is it to include one big gift for their birthday as their Christmas as well? Uh, very.

Here are some ideas to combat a full holiday schedule:

1. Buy next year’s birthday gift after Christmas is over and everything is on clearance. Perhaps there is something your child wanted and you couldn’t get it this year. If you buy it on clearance and ahead of time, you will have more of your budget when Christmas comes again.
2. Have an “unbirthday” at the six month mark during the year, meaning, if your child was born in November, have their birthday in May instead. Chances are, it is easier to find the time and money to celebrate their birthday at another time of the year.
3. Put money aside out of every paycheck throughout the year. Whether it is 10 or 20 dollars, it will add up in a year’s time. If you spread the burden of the very commercialized Christmas, it isn’t so hard to bear when the time comes and you can do a gift for the birthday and a gift for
Christmas.
4. Make a point to celebrate the child’s birthday separate from Christmas. That is their day to to be recognized. It is easy to get lost in the chaos of December, but they should know how special they are. Before long, they will ask why their siblings get parties and gifts and cake and they don’t. My parents always did their best to make my brother’s day a great one.
5. Is money as tight at your house as it is at mine? Decide to use things you already have or can recycle as gifts for Christmas and give the store bought gift for the birthday. We are implementing that this year. Many of my happenings have already passed and we are left with
virtually nothing for Christmas. So I told everyone that they needed to hand make their gifts for each other. It has brought everyone together and made them closer as they figure out what to make. It has been very rewarding and fun to do!
6. If you can’t afford a gift, a fun filled family evening can be better than any present. Cook the child’s favorite dinner, play a board game together, watch an anticipated movie with popcorn and our traditional “treat mugs”! (Treat mugs are coffee mugs from our cupboard filled with candy or anything you desire. A rare candy treat puts smiles on little faces!) Don’t forget the cake and ice cream! Even if it is a homemade sheet cake with melted chocolate chips for frosting and the $1.99 half gallon of ice cream, it is worth it! However, if you do these sorts of birthdays, repeat the same sort of event with siblings unless you want a rivalry to start!
7. Just be consistent all the way around. Plan at the New Year how you are going to handle parties. Don’t let it be Sally had a pool party with 10 kids there, Zach had one at the park with family, and Sam doesn’t get much of anything because he was born too close to Christmas and money is tight. This happens more than people realize. If you decide that you need to concentrate on getting out of debt this year, just have quiet parties with family…for all the kids. If you are going to create a birthday party fund, make sure to budget what you can save and stick to it!

No matter the situation, it is important to celebrate that child. They should feel just as important as the rest of the family. Making the effort to ensure all of your children are equal to you will dispel any hard feelings that can occur over the years.