How to (and how not to!) celebrate December birthdays

We’re experts at how (and how not to) celebrate December birthdays here at Equipp, as Anna has her birthday on Christmas Day. It’s a subject that’s very close to her heart… So, when we ran a giveaway recently to win an extra gift for a December birthday, she was delighted that we heard from so many of you about the pros and cons and emotions of celebrating this month.

We love a chance to pull together a good list on the blog, so here are our Do’s and Don’ts for celebrating December birthdays. They come from suggestions from our lovely customers and supporters as well as personal experience.

Don’t (and we mean, really don’t):

1. Write a birthday message in a Christmas card. And if this is the only option possible (we believe you!), then write a decent length personal message explaining why, that will entertain the birthday boy or girl.
2. Gift wrap the birthday gift in Christmas wrapping paper. Choose paper or wrap that’s as different as possible to anything you’d find under the tree.
   
3. Do the dreaded dual gift thing. Unless they’re begging for something too expensive for a Christmas or birthday stand alone gift, try as hard as you can to get two gorgeous presents they’ll be equally happy with.
4. Hold a double celebration. This is hardest of all (don’t ever get Anna started on her “birthday” parties), but we’ve got some great suggestions in our ‘Do’ list below.
5. Over-compensate and spend hours trying to convince them that it’s lucky to have a birthday in December. It’s not. Too much sympathy is just as bad. You just need to say once a year ‘yes, it’s pants, but we’re going to make the best of it’.

Do:

1. Think about having a small celebration with family and close friends in December and becoming known for super cool ‘half-birthday’ summer parties or celebrations on a set date or weekend every year.
2. If you prefer a December celebration, make this as different to Christmas as possible. Go big with a theme – hold a tropical party (with the heating turned up!) or go with superheroes (fantastic fun for teens, trust us) or colour wars. Just make sure to avoid anything that’s festive or wintery in any way. We’ve got some great advice on planning teenage parties here, and here, and here. We do love a good party!
3. Make sure you’re organised and book in any celebration dates with friends and family well in advance. December is so busy for everyone and you want to make sure that you get in first with the invites! If you’re booking a venue, the same advice applies.
4. Don’t put up your tree and Christmas decorations until after the big day if the birthday is before the 18th December. If it’s closer to Christmas, keep an area of the house separate from the tinsel. And go to town with birthday decorations that are as different as you can make them.
5. Buy cards that are specially designed for December birthdays. As a child, Anna’s rare but beloved ‘Happy Birthday on Christmas Day’ cards felt so special. They were one of the few things to look forward to. We particularly like this one – we couldn’t agree more with every word!
   

We’d also like to give a shoutout to those with birthdays on New Year’s Eve Eve or New Year’s Day too. (Louise knows all about this, as Jason’s birthday is on the 1st January.) After all, who wants to party then?! Anna will fight anyone who claims they’re worse off than a Christmas Day baby but will accept (just!) that they have it almost as bad…

We hope this helps you plan how to (and more importantly, how not to!) celebrate the December birthdays in your life. As always, we’d love to hear from you with any additional tips and advice. Please do leave us a comment below.

Louise & Anna x