It's the most wonderful time of the year! What's not to love about the holiday season? Multiple holidays and ways to celebrate across numerous cultures and religious affiliations, the music, the lights! Truthfully, the holidays can be a difficult time for people due to a wide variety of reasons. Christmas is not my favorite holiday (it's actually Easter). However, I was born on Christmas Day and that has made for a complex set of mixed feelings around the holiday season. One thing that is always appreciated is my family's dedication to making my birthday about me as much as possible on a major holiday, sparking a new tradition from the time I was born. I also look forward to what's in store for my family in the days leading up to and the days after Christmas.
The Week Leading Up to Christmas
During the week leading up to Christmas, my family will typically do a mix of fun activities and final holiday preparations. This year, my mom and I were joined by one of her friends to eat brunch at Mo' Better Brews (which we went to the back in October) before making our way over to Sugar Land for Houston's Urban Nutcracker. This was an incredible performance featuring dancers of all ages from dance companies across the 4th largest city in the United States. The story of the Nutcracker was adapted to focus on the history and diverse cultures of the City of Houston. My family has watched Houston Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker in a couple of times when I was growing up, but seeing this localized twist was such a delight! I love supporting the arts, especially when the artists/performers are breaking barriers or helping to reshape what someone sees or thinks of for the type of work they do. Tickets sell out quick for this show and I was luck to get a ticket. I'm hoping to go again in the future!
After a final week of work, Winter Break began for my job and we focused on making our last few errands and gift purchases before Christmas. The temperature was especially cold this year with an Arctic cold front moving into the area, so it was actually quite easy to get shopping done because fewer people wanted to be outside of their homes on the coldest days of the year. For my parents, this was their time to finish coordinating my at-home birthday party.
How Do You Celebrate a Birthday on Christmas Day?
In general, people with birthdays around the holiday season find that it's a bit of an awkward thing to celebrate. It can be difficult to have a birthday party, people often forget your birthday, and others may try to only give you a gift for your birthday/Christmas and say it counts for both events. For people with a birthday on December 25th like me, the question of "Do you get double the presents?" almost always comes up when people learn about your birthday. In my case, the answer to that question is a very firm no. My family began a new, unique tradition to help make sure my birthday is both acknowledged and effectively celebrated each year. And over the years we have switched things up a bit to be more reflective of my interests as I get older.
Our usual routine is splitting the day in half. Morning is all about Christmas, the afternoon is a transition period for getting Christmas decorations removed and birthday decorations put up, and the rest of the day is dedicated to celebrating my birthday starting at 5:00 PM. As some of my siblings moved away from the area, we began doing video calls so they could join in on singing happy birthday to me and seeing the rest of the family. We have continued this tradition my entire life with a few exceptions for when we were traveling. My first time traveling for my birthday was when we went to Disney World in Orlando, Florida for my 11th birthday. Once I got to college and even more so when I began my career, my passion for traveling during the holiday season grew. For example, I've gone to Las Vegas a couple of times to celebrate my birthday -- once for my 21st birthday and again for my 25th birthday. It was my 25th birthday that I began to take matters into my own hands (with the encouragement of my mom) to explore other ways to make my birthday interesting.
I didn't have travel plans this year because of something big that's already planned for next year, but that doesn't mean I can't find yet another way to highlight my special day. One thing that I haven't had an opportunity to do is host a birthday party. This year, I had the chance to do that with a shopping day at the Kendra Scott store just a couple of weeks before my actual birthday. It was a fun experience and now I'm curious to find similar options at other establishments for future birthday parties! Having a birthday on Christmas opens up a unique opportunity to have retail-centric celebrations because my guests can shop for themselves or someone else while giving me the gift of quality time.
Other Holiday Season Activities
Another activity my family often enjoys is a day at the movies. The week between Christmas and New Year's Eve is a slower time to just relax and be together, and this year we decided to watch Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on the first day of Kwanzaa. My mom, grandma, aunt, and I had been waiting to find a time for all of us to go and the holidays presented the best opportunity. We went to Studio Movie Grill for the first time and it was overall a very good experience. The food was well-prepared, customer service was pleasant, and the movie was great! The acting, the script, the costumes, basically everything...I was completely taken by surprise! I did all I could to avoid any spoilers on social media since the move was released in November and it was well worth the wait. It was also fun for my mom and I to watch the movie in our new Mr. Well-Travelled hoodies that were perfect for the occasion!
Ringing in the New Year
I usually spend New Year's Eve at home with my parents before making my return to Central Texas for the new year. However, I will be enjoying the New Year's Eve in Austin for the first time. I will be breaking tradition, but perhaps this will make it easier for me when I eventually have to start creating new holiday traditions for myself. My plans aren't set in stone yet. What I do know is that I will be enjoying ringing in the New Year whether I'm home alone, doing a video call with family, or at a party with friends.
Holiday Seasons of the Future
I have shared stories about fun trips I've taken during the Christmas holiday in the past, but I think it's important to share how my family has developed a unique tradition of celebrating Christmas since I was born. It's also equally as important to share how those traditions have evolved and continue to evolve over time in addition to the ways I'm branching out to start new ones. I've already begun developing my own traditions for celebrating my birthday. Maybe I can use this as inspiration for exploring my own traditions for New Year's Eve. Either way, I'm grateful and thankful for my 2022 holiday season. My thoughts about the holiday season began to improve significantly once my mom helped me feel empowered to take matters into my own hands and make it the best time of year for myself. I'm determined to make next year even better!
Feel free to leave comments below, tweet (@KimiThoughts), or leave a post/message on Facebook (@KimisTravelThoughts) and share how you have been enjoying the most wonderful time of the year!
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