My daughter’s birthday is in early January. She doesn’t know it yet but this really sucks. Everybody is pretty fed up with celebrating and often her birthday gets lumped in with everything else. Sometimes she gets a joint birthday/Christmas gift or one gift with a separate birthday card. Often people just forget all together.
Even I struggle to find excitement after weeks of celebrations and a rush to return to the regular routine. However, retailers don’t make it any easier. At this time of year there is NOTHING left in the stores but leftovers and sale items. They are sold out of most of the latest toys and all of the new clothes are for spring (in January??).
I am not saying that my already very lucky little girl needs more stuff but I think if we are going to make a fuss over her brother’s birthday and the birthdays of all of her pals then she should get the same. What I worry about is that it won’t be long until she sees the difference. I guess what I am saying is that I don’t want her to think she is not as important. Am I overreacting? What do you think?
Holly’s right, Jen. My older daughter has a friend who’s bday is December 24. Her party is always in late January, just to give her a chance to have a special day NOT associated with Christmas in any way. For the first few years, I actually thought her b-day was in Jan!
Another idea is a half-birthday celebration. One of my friends has two kids with b-days in July. It’s hard to gather up enough school friends for a big party, plus they never get to bring a treat in to school for their friends (since school is out). So she sends cupcakes to their classroom on their half-birthdays, in January! Wouldn’t it be fun to give your daughter a mini-party in July?
I know EXACTLY what you mean – my little guy has a birthday coming right up and it’s very hard to make it a big enough occasion…
I know EXACTLY what you mean – my little guy’s birthday is coming up, and my best friend’s daughter is THREE DAYS AFTER CHRISTMAS. It’s hard to still make it feel like a big enough deal, isn’t it?
Good suggestion, Holly. I think she would love a special lunch out with Mom!
What about having a birthday party for her later in January? I don’t think kids really care if they have the latest and greatest toy…they just want to feel special and celebrated. Alternatively, you could have her suggest a special activity that you and she can do together, like going to a musical, or going out for a special bday dinner. I think as long as you are enthusiastic about making her feel special about her bday, she won’t ever feel less special or less important than her brother. Just my thoughts 🙂
December and January babies do seem to get the short end of the stick. For my December girl, we always have a hard time with is when to do the birthday party. If we do it before Christmas, it conflicts with a lot of Christmas parties. After Christmas, lots of people go away. Luckily, no one in my family has done the joint Christmas/Birthday gift – that would suck.