Christmas always ruins my December birthday

It is finally December, meaning the countdown to Christmas can officially begin.

It’s time to open up the advent calendars, turn up the festive music, eat unlimited chocolate fingers, and get bombarded by lights, trees, and presents. But we are definitely forgetting some important days. For 31 days of the year, birthdays just do not exist.

There is no point even trying to talk about birthdays in December. No matter the conversation, it always ends with the excited countdown to Crimbo. The birthday playlist you spent weeks slaving over has been replaced with the Michael Bublé Christmas album, all plans revolve around Secret Santa and Christmas dinners.

So your big birthday day out is either a trip around the Christmas markets or the annual panto. Instead of balloons and bunting like a normal birthday, say hello to endless baubles and tinsel. Your birthday is no longer your day, you are sharing it with the entire population, but they are using it just as a marker for another day closer to Christmas.

21st birthday decorations!

Everyone should be grateful for what they receive on their birthday. No one should be greedy nor upset if they haven’t got what they wanted or feel it is not enough. It’s the thought that counts after all.

What isn’t okay is when family and friends combine Christmas and birthday presents together, providing that lucky birthday boy or girl with one big joint present. You would not combine a Christmas present with a birthday present in July, so why do it in December?

I’ll tell you why: it is a mean way of people trying to save money at an expensive time of year. But I’ll tell you it’s not money savvy or clever, it is damn right insulting. It’s not our fault we were born in December, so don’t punish us with the joint present crap. Everyone deserves to have a day for themselves, so birthday and Christmas presents must be separated.

What is worse is when people think it is acceptable to wrap birthday presents in Christmas paper. A sheet of paper is usually around 30p so why is this such a commonly done thing? People. Are. Lazy.

It is literally impossible to find a weekend where all friends are free at the same time at this time of year. Besides, what can you actually do in December? Holiday prices go up, theme parks close; the only option you have is the standard meal or night out that basically happens weekly anyway.

Even if you find that lucky Saturday night, you’ll need to book the event weeks in advance to make sure it is actually available that close to Christmas. Restaurants are the hardest places to reserve, flooded with work Christmas dinners from the end of November, but your friends think you are being ridiculous for trying to arrange your birthday night immediately after Halloween and just do not take you seriously.

A birthday that is commonly forgotten about being so close to Christmas, people make their own plans, go away for the season, claim they have no money, so just like every year in school your birthday basically does not exist because it is out of term time.

But what about me?

Us unlucky lot have to wait the entire year to get presents. Everything we want must be asked for in December, otherwise there is another twelve month wait until the next opportunity.

At the end of it all we can’t change our birthdays, so embrace it in the least Christmassy way possible. Don’t bring out the decorations until the big day has passed, throw an anti-Christmas party, do everything you can to remind people your birthday is as important as Christmas.