Having your birthday on a holiday is one thing, but having it on Christmas is something else.

Each year I hear the story of how my brother and sister ran downstairs to see if Santa had delivered any gifts, only to find relatives covering for my mom and dad’s absence.

Whenever my birthday comes up, whether at the doctors office, applying for jobs, or just having a random conversation, I always get one of two reactions.  Those being, “oh, I’m sorry, that really sucks” or “wow, that’s so cool.  Lucky you, double presents!” And it never fails to come across a sweet nurse at the doctor’s office who says “Oh, look at that, a Christmas baby.  That must have been one present, huh, mom?”

I have always been lucky in the fact that, for the most part, I enjoy my Christmas birthdays.

People always want to know if I get duped out of gifts or if I get double.  The answer is that getting “double presents” isn’t a real thing, it is just getting to celebrate two big days in one.

Luckily, I have a family that makes sure to keep it all separate, although there usually is that one birthday gift that gets wrapped in Christmas themed wrapping paper.

One of the pros to having your birthday on Christmas is that you will always get to come home during winter break and spend the day worrying about any school work.

Another advantage to having a Christmas birthday is being able to have all of your family home. Especially when your siblings get older and having everyone under the same roof seems like an impossible task.

Now, I’m sure there are more positives to having this birthday, and I genuinely like sharing this day with good ole St. Nick, but there are definitely some negatives that come to mind.

The first con I have to touch on comes from when I was little and struggled to plan a birthday party.  Due to everyone traveling for the holidays or having to host family, it was always challenging to find a date that worked. I usually had to have my party the week before or the week after.

Another downfall I face every year is having to buy gifts. Now I know that it all evens out in the end, but blowing all of your cash and scrambling to wrap gifts for your family takes its toll on the anticipation of opening birthday presents.

Being born on Christmas is definitely an experience, each and every year.  It can be overwhelming and sometimes make me feel guilty to accept so much in one day.  But the chance I get to spend such a special day with my family, uninterrupted, is something I would never give up.