The December Birthday Dilemma...Chapter 12

So the Boy's birthday is this weekend.  When he was born, I had only accumulated about 4 weeks of leave. That combined with two weeks of Christmas Break and notes from both my doctor and the kids' pediatrician saying "keep that child out of daycare for one more week" meant that I ended up with just short of 7 weeks of leave--which made me very thankful that he was an "almost Christmas baby".
However, as he gets older, his holiday season birthday has created some interesting situations....like the year only one friend appeared at his party (because all the others had last minute visits to Santa, holiday events, etc.), or the year that 27 kids attended his Harry Potter themed party at our house (advertised as "We live 3 miles from the Outlet Mall....drop off ALL your children at The Boy's party and get your shopping done!!!").  Often he is a victim of "here is one big gift for both Christmas and your birthday" (I am guilty of this....) Every year we debate how many Christmas decorations are appropriate before his party (also influenced by if the birthday party is at our house or somewhere else).
This year since snowboarding is happening on both Saturday and Sunday, it may be months before The Boy actually gets a party (although there is a motion on the table to do something one day during winter break with one of his friends, who hasn't had a birthday party yet this year either...). And the Christmas tree dilemma...do we get it before his birthday? On his birthday?  After?  One year we picked up a tree for 75% off on December 19 because we had the party at our house that week and didn't want a bunch of little boys with lightsabers and a tree with ornaments together...
This year we will celebrate early with the family, before the boys go to the mountain apartment (The Girl has finals to study for...) so I made a cake tonight--it certainly isn't as impressive as some other birthday cakes (the jewelry box, the pirate ship...) but it looks like it is going to be delicious.. (and if I did it right, there will be a surprise when we cut into it...).  And I tasted the reject pieces and frosting and can attest that it is very tasty no matter what....