December birthday sufferers, I may have found a solution

By John Toth

The Bulletin

I was born on Dec. 13, in the middle of the holiday season, and in one of the worst months to have a birthday.

It would have been better to be born in a month when there is not all that much going on, like any summer month, but I had no say in this matter.

Everyone knows Christmas kids are doomed from day one. The holidays are in full swing the second that Thanksgiving ends. So really, anyone celebrating a birthday in the last month of the year is in for a bad time.

They can plan and accommodate and adjust all they like. There’s no way they’re beating back the festivities for even one little birthday party.

As a child, I often felt like my birthday was an afterthought, something that had to be dealt with quickly so that everyone could return to the holiday hustle and bustle. My mother tried to make it a special day, but I sensed that everyone around me was more concerned about the holidays than Dec. 13.

When a birthday present is wrapped in Christmas paper, you can guess what is really on peoples’ minds. (It’s like, “I got this for little Johnny and didn’t have time to get it wrapped.

You can almost hear them saying, “Oh, look at all this Christmas wrapping paper lying around.”)

I can’t remember having a birthday party as a child. The only parties I can remember as a child and adult were Christmas parties.

I’m not complaining; they were fun, and every now and then my birthday even got a shout-out.

The birthday thing got lost in the shuffle with Santa showing up. (“Oh, it’s your birthday also? Happy birthday. Look, Santa is walking up. I wonder where he parked his sleigh?”)

At least I was born in the middle of the month, not near the end. I feel sorry for all you readers whose birthday falls later than mine. You have no chance of competing with Christmas.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I would guess that you have not had very many, if any, successful birthday parties.

I don’t really care about the party that much. It would have been hard to schedule it while I was country hopping as a child. My mother did everything in her power to make it a nice December birthday, for which I am grateful.

I have a solution for this lack of proper recognition of December birthdays. Let’s just take what we can get in December and schedule the big celebration for our half birthday in June.

There is not all that much happening in June. School is out, and some people may be on vacation, but most schedule vacations for July and August.

Most of the kids in the neighborhood are probably already bored out of their minds with school being closed and would jump at the opportunity to celebrate a June half birthday.

That’s how we level the playing field and get what we deserve, kids and adults alike. We aren’t asking for a four-day booze cruise here. (I don’t drink, but a half birthday cruise is not a bad idea.) We just want a nice, normal acknowledgment of our birthday.

I have been burdened with a December birthday all of my life, but Sharon, The Bulletin’s birthdays editor, and I did save our three children from suffering the same fate. Their birthdays are in April, July and August, all great birthday months.

Sharon is also suffering from lack of proper birthday recognition. She was born in January, the month when people realize that the holidays have left them penniless and in debt.

The last thing on their mind is to buy another present and go to a party in the middle of a deep freeze. But that’s a column for her to write.

Dear readers, send us your December birthday experiences to john.bulletin@gmail.com, or to P.O. Box 2426, Angleton, TX. 77516, and we’ll print them in The Bulletin.