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Anyone who was born in December knows that December Birthdays often get usurped by the BIG HOLIDAY. Like the time when I was turning sixteen and had to spend the entire day helping my mother clean the kitchen cupboards because those cupboards just had to be cleaned before Christmas. Or the time that she told me that she didn’t have time to bake a Birthday cake so she was taking one of the Christmas cherry loaves out of the freezer instead.
Well in our house, as it turns out, The Doc and JT also have December Birthdays along with myself. So December can be a busy month for us if we choose to make it one. But we don’t. We choose to make it enjoyable as opposed to crazy busy. Plus, I don’t believe in doing a lot of Christmas prep, and I am in charge of prep.
My Birthday is the 15th, ten days before the big event, so Christmas doesn’t even begin in our house until then, except for the baking of shortbreads, which I send to family members and which The Doc and I like enjoy all month long. Decorating is postponed until my Birthday because it is part of my present. I really, really, really enjoy decorating the tree. Restaurants are crazy busy with Christmas parties so The Doc cooks for me. Anyone who know The Doc, knows he is a good cook. That’s how he won me over to begin with. The way to this poor woman’s heart was to make her a great steak and Caesar salad. At the time I lived in a basement apartment with nothing but a small range and a beer fridge. I still don’t know how he pulled it off.
The Doc’s Birthday is the 28th. It falls into that void between Christmas and New Years when people are so full of food and family that they just want to lay on the sofa until the second phase of the holiday begins and they will get up to party with friends. For some people, Birthday gifts appear in Christmas wrapping as if someone held back one of the presents that was supposed to be under the tree. It is an awkward time of year to have a Birthday. This is when we go out to dinner. Both of us are cooked out by this time. Restaurants are quiet and the service and food is usually at it’s best because everyone has the time to do a good job. We like to try a new venue each year. We have been going out to dinner on The Doc’s Birthday for years and have rarely been disappointed.
JT’s Birthday is New Year’s Eve. The best day to have a Birthday in December as far as I am concerned. It wasn’t like we planned to have JT in December. When we were trying to get pregnant in March 1991, I looked at The Doc and mischievously said, “don’t you dare touch me or we will have a Christmas baby.” Well March was a very busy month for both of us that year, and I am sure that The Doc and I only had a single opportunity to get together. JT was actually due Christmas Eve; but in his laidback way, he chose to wait a week. Something I didn’t mind at all. JT’s Birthday was always celebrated with his favourite food and friends. As he grew, the meals became more specific, like the year he wanted Baked Alaska for dessert. By the time he was ten, JT preferred adult food over kiddie fair and pies over cakes. In his teen years, the evening began with a meal served to him and his buddies before they spent the night safely in his downstairs room playing Dungeons and Dragons until the sun came up. I still miss those New Year’s Eves because they were such a big part of our December. These days JT isn’t always home for his Birthday. This year he managed three days home for the holidays, we cooked him a nice meal before he left on the 27th. He gets to spend his day with the new lady in his life; and we know he will enjoy it, because enjoying a December Birthday is something we have always taken very seriously in our house.
So for all of you out there who celebrated a Birthday this month, you are special people because you know how to share your day with the biggest annual event of the year. And as the Christmas season gets longer and longer, encompassing more and more Birthdays, I also like to think that we have all chosen not to take it personally. Happy Birthday December babies. Hope your days were delightful.
Thanks for reading.
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