Starting with Halloween, it seems that there is a never-ending stream of parties, crafts, celebrations, and traditions all the way to the end of the year. It’s a fun and busy time that I love! In our family, another important event mixed in amongst these holiday traditions is my oldest daughter’s birthday in mid-December. She is going to be seven this year (what?!), and I feel like this is the first year where she is a little more aware that her birthday and Christmas are somewhat close together. So finding ways to make her holiday birthday unique and special has been on my mind recently. Over the years, I’ve naturally come up with ways to separate her birthday and the holidays and plan to keep doing them in years to come. Below are a few tips to making holiday birthdays stand out.
Plan Ahead
The holidays are a busy and sometimes overwhelming time of year. So many lists, dates on the calendar, events to attend. Sometimes it is hard to keep it all straight, so planning ahead can make a holiday birthday stand out. I try to buy gifts and plan out the activities that will be involved a few weeks in advance. This helps me to not panic in the days before and allows the birthday to be the star of the show and not sneak up on me.
Talk It Up and Set Expectations
Over the years, I’ve made it a point (subconsciously or consciously) to separate the birthday and holidays in general. We talk about each one separately and treat them like the separate events that they are. Especially when you have a six year old who, at this point in their life, is very aware of what others do for their birthdays, it’s important to make it a unique and separate event. However, with the holiday so close, sometimes budgets do sometimes “interfere” with birthday plans. This year, we have specifically talked to our daughter about the fact that we have a budget for everything. Holidays, birthdays, etc. This talk was specifically fueled by comments made by her that were a little…expensive. So amongst all the excitement and “talking it up”—it is still important to set boundaries and expectations.
Make It An Experience
Naturally, a large part of holiday celebrations involves gift giving. Of course, we give our daughter a couple of birthday gifts because, let’s face it, is it even a birthday without gifts for a seven-year-old? But I have also tried to incorporate experiences into her birthday celebrations to provide a unique memory for her birthday. An example from the past was attending Disney on Ice. I know it was memorable because she just informed me this week that she wanted to go again for her birthday this year. And it was just here a few weeks ago. Oops. This year we are planning to have a girl’s day to get our nails done and get in some shopping, and there’s even a father-daughter camping trip in the works.
Traditions Are Key
I love celebrating birthdays any time of the year, so I’ve tried to implement a few birthday traditions that my kids can always expect. One of those is creating a “birthday video”. I compile all of the photos of them throughout the year into a video, add some music, and we show it at their family birthday celebration. It is a hit every year, and they always ask for it! Choosing all the meals on their birthday is another big one in our family. Incorporating birthday traditions, especially when the birthday falls on or near a holiday, is a simple way to make sure the birthday stands out from other big days.
It’s a magical time of year and when holiday birthdays happen to coincide, a little extra planning and effort can make your child’s special day stand out!
