NWR - PPD: Pretty Prince Day?

Dreamergirl8812

I can't keep this to myself. A friend of a friend is sending out invites on facebook for her son's third birthday party. She's talking about her planning, etc. The problem is, her son's birthday is in December. But it's near the holidays so she celebrates it in June.

Oh lord.

MoonlightSilver

Not going to lie, I know a couple of people with December birthdays who  get together with their friends during the summer time to celebrate. But they're adults, and no one gets or gives gifts. I do feel really bad for kids born in December/early January, though.

Angelface225

My birthday is December 27, which sucks. One of my clients, they have his birthday party on his 'half birthday' since he was born right on Christmas. I don't have an issue with it, if it's not double dipping on your guests.

Simply Fated

Oh heavens WHERE did I read this... probably STFU parents...
It's apparently a trend to plan your pregnancy so that your due date is in the summer. This way the little one doesn't have to compete with the holidays AND outdoor kiddie parties are so much easier and more fun. That's the reasoning behind the trend, anyway.

lisabeats

I absolutely did this as a kid. My birthday is at the very end of December, and my mom used to have friends over in June instead for my half birthday. It was so I could get together with them after school let out, and no one had to miss/alter because of holiday travel plans. I didn't ALSO get a big celebration in December, but really, besides skiing, what can you do with a bunch of six year olds in New England in December?! 

allispain

I was an April baby, yet my birthday party was inevitably thrown in June. Reason 1) We had a pool. Reason 2) April was a busy month for school projects, concerts, etc. Reason 3) My birthday party could double as an end-of-year party. Every year it ended up being my friends + my sister's friends. Kinda sucked, since it wasn't actually a celebration of my birthday except for the fact that the cake sometimes had my name on it. Otherwise, it was just a summer pool party, but it was easier on my mom to plan that than to plan a birthday party closer to my birthday.

TKzilla

I guess I don't understand the reasoning behind shorting your kid birthday presents if his/her birthday is also close to Christmas. If you're worried about not having money, buy their presents earlier in the year and hide them. Problem solved.

For the record though, I would enjoy celebrating half birthdays with my (future) kids. Just a silly little family thing, maybe a present and some cupcakes or something. 

southernbelle0915

FI's birthday is in late December so when we started dating I offered to celebrate with him in July. He was so excited because his whole life, Christmas overshadowed his birthday. 

On a side note, his family lives on the other side of the country and seriously got upset and told us we were "missing important milestones" when we didn't travel back for his cousins 2nd birthday party. They sent us an invitation so I even felt obligated to send a gift. Now many of those same relatives aren't traveling for our wedding. Really? REALLY?

shaylagirl

Simply Fated said:

Oh heavens WHERE did I read this... probably STFU parents... It's apparently a trend to plan your pregnancy so that your due date is in the summer. This way the little one doesn't have to compete with the holidays AND outdoor kiddie parties are so much easier and more fun. That's the reasoning behind the trend, anyway.

I -hate- having a summer birthday!  I never got to wear the crown for school like the other kids and I didn't get cake or cupcakes at school; you know, all of those things kids love about having their birthday during the school year. 

Doesn't help that I live in Texas and my birthday is in August so it's hotter'n fucking hell here, so if my party didn't involve a pool or being indoors, we didn't do squat for it. 

I'd rather have been a spring baby. 

But, I agree with PPs; if people aren't double-dipping guests and just want to host a party to celebrate, that's cool.  No biggie.

wittykitty14

I'm the end of January, which is fine.  It kind of worked out well.  Often times, my mom would order me stuff online, and then it wouldn't arrive by xmas, so I'd get it for my birthday instead.  Sometimes it also backfired though.  There were some years where my mom said that because she spent too much on xmas (not just on me, but combined with everyone), that she decided to not get me anything.  @lisabeats-I'm also a New England winter baby, and my parties were awesome when I was little!  Ice skating and sledding were favorites!

My FI's birthday is in July, and he hated it growing up.  No one ever knew when his birthday was, and he didn't really have any b-day parties with friends because school was out.  Not gonna lie, that would make me sad too.  When I was little, I LOVED bringing in cupcakes or whatever for class on my birthday, and I got so excited hearing them announce my name over the intercom.  It was my one day where I actually felt special. 

Jen4948

My mom's birthday is June 29 and my cousin's is July 31.  When they were kids, they had birthday parties during the year with their friends, because they and/or their friends were at camp during their actual birthdays and wouldn't have been able to celebrate with them.

As long as they get one celebration, does it matter when it takes place?

Maggie0829

LingerLonger1 said:

Simply Fated said:

Oh heavens WHERE did I read this... probably STFU parents... It's apparently a trend to plan your pregnancy so that your due date is in the summer. This way the little one doesn't have to compete with the holidays AND outdoor kiddie parties are so much easier and more fun. That's the reasoning behind the trend, anyway.

This makes no sense to me.  I was a summer birthday kid and it sucked.  I never got a party because we couldn't invite classmates since class was out, and I never got the little celebration at school either.  It was like having the red-headed step child of birthdays.

This!  And I used to attend Catholic school and my birthday almost always happened the first week of school when the teachers were too busy getting everything going to care that it was someone's birthday.

But my Mom did tell me that if I did have kids to try and plan my pregnancy so that I was due at the end of the summer or early to mid September.  She had kids in both the summer and winter and she said clothes wise summer was so much easier while in the winter you had to bundle up and jackets would never close because of the belly.

SapphireCounselor

My birthday is at the end of December...like a few days after Christmas. Yet I've never heard of the half birthday thing in the summer until now. Lol I feel cheated and think that this is an idea I need to pitch to people in my circle. JK

Simply Fated

LingerLonger1 said:

Simply Fated said:

Oh heavens WHERE did I read this... probably STFU parents...
It's apparently a trend to plan your pregnancy so that your due date is in the summer. This way the little one doesn't have to compete with the holidays AND outdoor kiddie parties are so much easier and more fun. That's the reasoning behind the trend, anyway.

This makes no sense to me.  I was a summer birthday kid and it sucked.  I never got a party because we couldn't invite classmates since class was out, and I never got the little celebration at school either.  It was like having the red-headed step child of birthdays.


The parents are thinking in terms who they want to invite, not who their kids want to invite. In other words, family members, not school/camp friends.

Dreamergirl8812

I'm lucky. My birthday is 3 days after FI's in March. We always make a weekend of it. I just turned 30 so he took me to the mountains so I could hide from life for a few days. Came back as my old self (no pun intended).

Peaseblossom55

My birthday is in August, I rarely had birthday parties because so many of my friends were away on vacation and such. It was also hard to get invitations out you would need to get addresses and phone numbers before the school year let out.  No celebration in school either

kerbohl

Maggie0829 said:

LingerLonger1 said:

Simply Fated said:

Oh heavens WHERE did I read this... probably STFU parents... It's apparently a trend to plan your pregnancy so that your due date is in the summer. This way the little one doesn't have to compete with the holidays AND outdoor kiddie parties are so much easier and more fun. That's the reasoning behind the trend, anyway.

This makes no sense to me.  I was a summer birthday kid and it sucked.  I never got a party because we couldn't invite classmates since class was out, and I never got the little celebration at school either.  It was like having the red-headed step child of birthdays.

This!  And I used to attend Catholic school and my birthday almost always happened the first week of school when the teachers were too busy getting everything going to care that it was someone's birthday.

But my Mom did tell me that if I did have kids to try and plan my pregnancy so that I was due at the end of the summer or early to mid September.  She had kids in both the summer and winter and she said clothes wise summer was so much easier while in the winter you had to bundle up and jackets would never close because of the belly.

But the problem with summer, especially if you are at the end of your pregnancy, is that it can be so hot and you are packing all the extra weight of baby.  I would hate that!  I felt bad for my poor sister who was huge by August and swelling up because of the heat and being hot all the time.  I think I would rather deal with jackets not closing properly than being hot and not being able to do anything about it (aside from living in very air-conditioned places, but that isn't always a possibility). 

rel1988

Kids parties these days are ridiculous. In my entire childhood I never had a birthday party with friends...only family get togethers with a cake. No ponies, magicans, bounce houses or waterpark trips. Believe it or not I successfully developed into an adult!

KDM323

I think this is a great idea!  I dated a guy who had a daughter with a birthday on December 23rd and I always felt bad for that little girl....her birthday was SO overshadowed by Christmas. 

Doing a 'half birthday' celebration in the summer would have been cool!  Even if just so the kids could have a party!


My birthday is in August.  I always had parties, etc...I loved having a summer birthday.

lyndsay782

LingerLonger1rel1988 mentioned, I still managed to turn out into a more or less well adjusted adult...

I did summer school freshman and sophomore year partially so I could get birthday balloons delivered for once.   It was kind of awesome. Now that I'm an adult, most of my immediate family usually overlooks my summer birthday still because they'd rather go on vacation.  And by over look I mean I get a card two weeks early so they don't feel bad about not calling while they are having fun somewhere. 

That being said, If I could "schedule" my future children's births, it would be spring. Then I won't have to pregnant in 100+ heat. :-) 

  

TKzilla

I have a summer birthday. It was awesome as a kid because my friends in the neighborhood and my cousins would come to my house for a pool party.

I never got balloon deliveries at school, except once when I was Student of the Month (or some similar crap). My dad had balloons delivered and I was so confused because it WASN'T my birthday. I think this was in first grade or something. I kept arguing that it was a mistake and they weren't meant for me!

plumander

CourtaniaLynn said:

I have a summer birthday. It was awesome as a kid because my friends in the neighborhood and my cousins would come to my house for a pool party.

I never got balloon deliveries at school, except once when I was Student of the Month (or some similar crap). My dad had balloons delivered and I was so confused because it WASN'T my birthday. I think this was in first grade or something. I kept arguing that it was a mistake and they weren't meant for me!

You had balloon deliveries at your school? Awesome!

TKzilla

@plumander - well basically my dad brought a "bouquet" of balloons to the school office and they brought them to the classroom.

plumander

CourtaniaLynn said:

@plumander - well basically my dad brought a "bouquet" of balloons to the school office and they brought them to the classroom.

Aww, that's adorable.

2012FutureMrsB

My birthday sometimes falls on Thanksgiving Day, sometimes a few days before or after. We always celebrated "around" my birthday, which usually turned into just adding a birthday cake to the Thanksgiving meal with family (none of my friends would be there). I think I had a few birthday parties with friends when I was younger, but as I got older I can't remember having any friend parties, except for a surprise party that my HS friends threw for my 16th birthday, which was super awesome.

As an adult, I usually just invite some close friends to go to dinner and/or a movie with me and I always make sure to buy myself either ice-cream or an ice-cream/cookie cake. I really don't like many cakes and I hate pumpkin pie. My family still tries to serve these to me on Thanksgiving Day to "honor" my birthday even though I don't like to eat them.

LuckyAloha

Haha they had an episode of "Happy Endings" about this, I didn't know it was a real thing. 

NerdyLucy

2012FutureMrsB said:

My birthday sometimes falls on Thanksgiving Day, sometimes a few days before or after. We always celebrated "around" my birthday, which usually turned into just adding a birthday cake to the Thanksgiving meal with family (none of my friends would be there).

Fellow turkey-baby here.

I used to hate that it was relatively cold on my birthday.  When I was 4 or 5, it was unseasonably warm in November that year and we actually got to play on my swingset during my little party.  I was so excited.  Everyone else had birthdays where they could swim and such.

fre3doms

I'm a turkey baby too. About every 6 years it's on Thanksgiving. We'd usually celebrate it as a family on Thanksgiving and also on the actual day. My sister is 3 days after Christmas and one brother is Jan 2. We usually go out to eat at the birthday celebrant's choice of restaurant.
I had several b-day parties in mid-January after the holidays.

This past year I went Black Friday shopping and ate leftover turkey with my (now) FI. His birthday is in August so it'll be nice to have things spread out for now. And our wedding is in February.  

GetThePointe77

Seriously, Dad of the year award thats really really awesome and I'm jealous!

(Although my dad did get my an ice cream cake the first time I failed a test which was pretty cool of him)

kellamity

I'm a December 25th baby. My parents found another meaningful day (my Namesday which is in March) for me to celebrate my birthday as a child. As a kid it worked really well since I still got to have a party with my friends and birthday cake etc.

But I forgot about the Namesday thing around my 18th birthday and now "celebrate" my birthday on Dec. 25th. And a lot of things about it do suck because very few people even remember that it's my birthday (usually they get reminded by someone else and then it's like "oh yeahhhh happy birthday!), and I can't exactly plan a birthday party or have a birthday cake. On the plus side I will never have to work on my birthday or the day after because of the industry I'm in (banking). That is a nice benefit

At places like the DMV, passport office etc. I get asked all the time if I lose out on presents and while I don't say it I'm always thinking "um I'm 26, I think I've figured out that life is about more than presents!"

That being said however I had multiple friends with December birthdays (one was Dec. 22) and they all had parties and celebrated their birthdays on their actual birthdays. And I don't think any of them got fewer presents or felt like their birthdays didn't matter. In my experience it's really the people who have birthdays on the "big" December days (25th, 31st and 24th in some cultures) who may feel like they're losing out.

natswild

My family and one set of cousins are very close.  While growing up we would get together in July and have birthday party for everyone, because it was the only time of year that we could get together, and it was a lot more fun giving gifts to each other personally and seeing how they reacted:)