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Turning 4 -- two weeks before Christmas

My oldest will turn 4 on December 10th.  He was due December 3rd and the entire time I was pregnant, I was obsessed with going early.  Not your normal run of the mill every-pregnant-woman-wants-to-go-early, but obsessed with what his birth date would be and wanting to go early so I could ensure he wouldn't get the short end of the stick by having a birthday too close to Christmas. 

My birthday is in mid-July, and other than having a few less kids at my birthday parties each year since someone was always on summer vacation, I loved it.  Every 6 months there was something to celebrate. Hubby's in the same boat with a June birthday.

You can't pick your birthday
But we quickly learned that you can't just conceive and get pregnant for the month and date you want.  By the time we got pregnant, I was just happy to be pregnant.   But still, with that December 3rd due date, I kept hoping for a November baby.  I hoped and hoped and come November, I was taking evening primrose oil and drinking red raspberry tea.  Of course, the reality was that I was wheeled into a C-section 7 days late with an in distress baby who didn't want to budge. 

So the past few years, I've done my best to keep his birthday and Christmas separated.  We tried to keep Christmas decorations and the tree out of the house until after his birthday.  And I always try and throw his party a few days before his birthday, the theory being that people weren't yet into the holiday craze.

Embracing it
But this year, I've embraced the holidays.  My son is so excited by both his upcoming birthday and Christmas that I figured we'd just have it be one long month of fun.  We put the holiday decorations up last weekend and we'll be going to cut down our tree on Saturday.  And of course a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese amidst all of the holiday chaos.  (And I always end up with carpal tunnel by the time I'm done addressing birthday invites, holiday cards and thank you cards for his birthday presents!)  But my son is thrilled - the entire month means just one big party to him with a ton of different presents. 

Still, I wonder if he gets a little cheated.  For the fourth year in a row now, hubby and I won't be giving him any birthday presents.  The reason being, by the time he gets done with his birthday party and opening all the gifts, there's little room for anything more.  And with Christmas just two more weeks away, it's seemed easy to just stash everything for him for Christmas.  (Of course Christmas then ends up being a mad house as I've bought him so many gifts thinking I should buy "double")

As he becomes more aware of the significance of his birthday, I'm sure we'll give him or do something a little more special.  And both sets of grandparents know not to give the "joint" Christmas and Birthday gift.  It's really important to me that he gets that he has his own day and that it's his "special" day, and that just because it's close to Christmas doesn't mean it is any less special than it is for any other child.