Some people are handed the unfortunate fate of having a birthday during the holidays, but there are ways to ensure their big day is not lost in the holiday shuffle. Methods including moving the celebration day, celebrating a half-birthday, combining it with the holiday and “going big” to make sure the holiday birthday is special.
The main goal no matter what method you choose is to make an effort, especially if it’s your child’s birthday. Don’t let their birthday become an afterthought in the holiday frenzy. Here are details on the options.
Move The Holiday Birthday Celebration
This doesn’t mean you don’t acknowledge the actual birthday! However, a small acknowledgment will suffice, because everyone knows the big celebration has been moved to another day outside the holiday season. This gives everyone a chance to plan both the holidays and for a big birthday party.
The Half-Birthday
Because some people don’t feel comfortable with just setting an arbitrary date, many will celebrate a half-birthday – held in the sixth month after (or before) the birthday. Again, you want to acknowledge the birthday on the actual day but save the gift-giving and big blowout party for six months later.
Combine the Two
For some people, especially kids, the idea of waiting until a later date is not going to be acceptable. However, it’s also hard to plan, say, a Fourth of July party or a Christmas Party while also planning a birthday party. One idea is to combine the two. Birthdays around Halloween can become parties where everyone dresses up in scary costumes. Thanksgiving Day can include a time to exchange gifts.Christmas Eve can become the birthday party, and the lucky birthday boy or girl gets even more gifts! While this may mean the birthday party is not exactly on the day of the birthday, it combines them both into one big celebration.
But Keep it Separate
Whatever path you choose, it’s important that you don’t simply fold the birthday into the regular holiday celebration. You don’t want the person having the birthday to feel that their big day is an afterthought. Don’t take five minutes during Christmas to sing “Happy Birthday” and then move back into celebrating Christmas. Whether you reschedule, do the half-birthday or combine the holidays, make sure to make the birthday person feel like a rock star.
Go Big
You have many choices if you want to take the birthday party to the next level. Party rental companies offer everything from waterslides and thrill rides to ways you can turn a birthday party into a carnival. If you want to take the party to the next level and make sure that it’s special – and completely separate from the holiday – this is the way to go.
Follow these ideas or some combination of them, and you can turn a holiday birthday into something special. And make sure that the birthday boy or girl has a special day even if they have an “unlucky” birth date.
