I was born on December 25th—a date more commonly known as Christmas. In 1995, I was supposed to be due a week or two afterwards, but my mother was already going into labor.

As the years have passed, I’ve seen the negative and positives of this birthday. On the negative side, none of my friends are around during Christmas, so obviously, this means no birthday parties. Those who are nearby are often spending time with family. On the positive side, as I grew older and my older sisters moved away, they would always be back for Christmas to celebrate my birthday, no matter how busy with work or school they were.

It has become a Christmas tradition for every member of our family to leave behind the burdens of daily life and return home to spend time with each other. With my family spread out from travelling, business trips and college, it is a rare occasion for us to all be in the same place at the same time—I cherish these get-togethers above all others.

Something that always makes me smile when I tell others of my birthday is that there are two totally different responses, either “that’s awesome!” or “that stinks.” More often than not, the response is “that stinks.” I’ve always wondered why this is. Christmas is an awesome day to have a birthday—everyone is home and there are plenty of presents to go around.

However, I’ve discovered that the negative connotation associated with having a Christmas birthday is because people only think about the presents. Normally, one would receive both a Christmas and a birthday present each year. Since my birthday and Christmas are rolled into one, it seems logical to others that I am missing.

Additionally, sometimes people worry that not only is Christmas … well, Christmas, but it is also my birthday and forget about it.

This only shows the commercialization and ridiculous hype of Christmas. Presents aren’t everything. Although companies may try to convince everyone to spend as much money as possible, it isn’t the main point of the holidays. Instead, the holidays should be significant for spending time with family, celebrating the end of one year and looking forward to a new one.

So, for me, it doesn’t matter that I don’t receive as many presents or that I can’t have birthday parties. Christmas is a time for my family and having everyone together more than makes up for a few missing birthday presents.