I will admit it. Having your birthday in December is not fun at all. Contrary to what many people believe, being a “December-baby” is not very enjoyable, and it comes with a horde of problems. One of the many misconceptions people have is that it is the greatest thing ever to have your birthday intertwined with Christmas. Christmas, after all, is this beautiful holiday where it’s all about giving presents, giving cheer, and giving love. It doesn’t matter what day in December you’re born in – your birthday will always be associated with Christmas. This, however, is the problem.

Everyone knows Christmas is a nationally recognized holiday, and like every other year, it comes this frenzied holiday rush. It’s very evident when the winter months start coming in and hundreds of stores skip Halloween and Thanksgiving décor in favor of Christmas wreaths and ornaments. Even more so on Black Friday when people normally start shopping for Christmas gifts already. However, when your birthday is near or on Christmas, it’s often your birthday that’s left trampled all over and forgotten in the holiday’s haste. Most of the time, it’s because people are so panicked about the approaching holiday that they tend to forget about everything else. Sometimes, there is no birthday party at all because of financial issues in which the money is needed for buying presents for other family relatives for Christmas. Of course I understand that money is tight, but the implication is always there – that your birthday will always be a little bit less special than Christmas.

Perhaps one of the biggest irritations (and saddest part) of having your birthday any day in December is being told “you have to wait until Christmas to get your birthday present.” In other words, it’s the dreaded two-in-one Birthday-Christmas present. It’s very common to think that a birthday boy or girl will get double the amount of presents if their birthday is in December, but that isn’t the case. In fact, they will only get half the usual amount. The general concept is that you get two presents a year – one for your birthday, and one for Christmas, but when you have your birthday so close to Christmas, people tend to have this habit of combining presents. It’s very funny and ironic how your birthday, a day that is special to you, suddenly becomes about everyone else and what is convenient for them.

Birthdays should be special and be unique. Now, I’m not saying that Christmas should be totally bypassed in favor of birthdays, but families should find a way to separate the two and make each of them unique so it doesn’t feel as though December-babies are getting the short end of the stick.