Growing up, there have been many times I woke up to a rather disappointing Christmas morning. I would notice my siblings opening all of their Christmas presents while I received my two-in-one birthday and Christmas present.
My birthday is seven days before Christmas, so oftentimes, I get my presents combined into one. But why should it be fair that I only get one or two presents for both when my brothers and members of my family receive multiple presents?
Personally, I don’t see how that’s fair. Other people don’t understand the pain of getting one present and the feeling of getting left out. I strongly believe that people born near Christmas should always get separate presents.
I don’t have many friends that have December birthdays like I do, so they struggle to understand the frustration and sadness that it gives us late December babies.
Not only does it greatly affect us in general, but it can also leave an effect on our mental health. The unfairness of it all could leave us to feel unimportant or uncared for.
Oftentimes, our birthdays get forgotten in the parade of festivities, surrounding what is meant to be our “special day.” This leaves us to feel forgotten and irrelevant to those who are supposed to be celebrating with us.
Throughout many websites, I have found common stories from other December babies, which include them feeling excited and looking forward to their birthday and Christmas presents, just to find out there’s only one present.
According to Microsoft Network, “But when a birthday falls in December, something especially fraught occurs, as one popular meme puts it: ‘All I want for Christmas is for someone to remember my December birthday.’ Sure, December birthdays can seem like a joke, but for many the reality of having one really can be a downer — especially in childhood.”
Included in those stories was the mental aspect of being born in December, and how their birthday is flooded with people around them, including family members, only putting in the effort for holidays.
It affects those of us who only receive one present for both Christmas and their birthday since it causes us to feel not as important compared to our siblings and relatives. It also makes us feel neglected, undervalued and even diminishes our self-worth.
I know I can speak for a lot of December babies when I say, we deserve separate gifts. If you can get separate gifts for family members’ birthdays and Christmas, then you can do it for us too. We are no different.
