Making Birthday's Special!

I am the mother of 3 with my oldest being 12. We let him pick his meal that we (just the 5 of us) eat on his birthday along with whatever dessert he wants. My husband is 31 and this is a tradition that his mom has done with them for years. It has been interesting how my sons menu has changed as he has gotten older.

We have a lot of family traditions that our children still look forward to and they are all in their 20s now. My parents started giving them quarters for their age. So your son would get 6 quarters, they can use them in vending machines or game machines or for anything they like. My kids still look forward to the quarters.

We let them pick what they want for dinner or we go out to dinner, it just depends on how money is during that year.

My daughter always enjoyed renting a movie for the night and after dinner we all would watch the movie she picked, along with eating the junk food that would go with going out to a movie.

I usually took them for a drive during the day to run errands, but always made sure we drove through to get a soda or an ice cream. These were always small and during the time after school and before dinner.

I guess what I am saying is that the little things that would not seem like a big deal to us, are to the kids. I have learned as my children grew up and became more vocal about their thoughts, that they looked forward to knowing that I would do the little things on that day all day, as kind of a reminder that I had not forgotten.

Another thing is to send them a card in the mail, kids love getting mail. You can make it even more fun by tucking in a dollar bill and signing it from a secret friend. They spend days trying to figure out who that secret friend is.

I do the same thing that my mom did for us kids when we were litte. She would wake us up singing happy birthday quietly to us with a lot of hugs and kisses. Then she would make us what we wanted for breakfast. We then got to plan the evening meal. It was alway fun to have all your favorites at one meal. We also got to choose the desert. My brothers liked pies more than cakes. My sister always asked to a red velvet cake. My kids love this. They now can choose whether we eat at home and they pick the meal and dessert or they can pick the resuraunt that we go to.

We usually have a little birthday party for our Daughter on the weekend, but on her actual birthday, I just let her pick what she wants to do. I really just let her decide. One day that a kid can do whatever they want (within reason) I think is pretty special to them. She had her favorite, breakfast, lunch and dinner and we went to her favorite place to play. It was a great day!

If he takes lunch to school, you can decorate the brown bag or put a cute note into the bag/box. Take a picture in the pj's he is wearing as he awakes on his birthday--to preserve what is popular during his 6th year. Buy a plant, vegetable,or flower that you can plant in your yard as a reminder of his 6th birthday. Let him choose a movie that he can watch on the first friday after the birthday--not having to rise early for school. Pancakes,french toast or other foods that you can imprint a heart-initials-or 6 on top. Write a story about how he came into your life 6 years ago and some favorite memories of each birthday since. have fun.k

We have a family tradition that we either go out to lunch or dinner. Just us, my husband, my self and our daughters to celebrate whomever is having the birthday. We let them pick the place to eat with no limits. We've been doing this since they were 3. Good luck and God Bless.

I used to do breakfast in bed (on a tray) even if it was just cereal or poptarts. We also let them pick the menu for dinner. Sometimes it is the small things that they rememeber.

I have a cupcake business www.crumbscustomcupcakes.com and I guarentee that it would make your event extra special.
Thanks
K.

We try to make birthdays all day around here. We decorate my daughters room while she sleeps with balloons and streamers. I bake and decorate a mini cake that she gets for breakfast! We write with the car window markers on the car saying "Honk, it's Marah's birthday!"...or something to that effect. We always get her picture taken at Picture People at the mall. Then it's out to lunch, sometimes with grandma and grandpa. Usually she has to wait for the her party, but these little things make the day special!

Jenn

We let them pick almost everything on their day. They can pick out their breakfast, lunch, supper, which chair they will sit in, where they will sit in the car, what movie we watch (if we watch a movie), what clothes they wear to school, etc. Then, we also let them stay up an extra 15 minutes on their birthday. Whenever there is a choice, we make a point to say, let's let the birthday boy/girl decide..... I have found it makes them feel extra important. We also make sure they get to get the mail on their actual birthday -- usually there is an extra card for them. I have also on occasion, decorated the outside of their bedroom door after the go to sleep. When they wake in the am, there is a decorated door & a birthday present sitting right in the middle of the living room waiting for them. Good luck. You are right, they do grow up so fast.

Before they were in school, I always took off work and spent the day with them just playing. We would go out for lunch where ever they wanted. Since they are in school, my husband has picked them up for lunch and taken them out before. They would also pick out a theme for their birthday and I would make a cake related to that theme. I would do it at night after they went to bed so when they got up the next day it was a big surprise. They run to the kitchen first thing and its fun to see their faces when they see what I made. No I am not a professional cake decorator, I just do my best and the kids seem to love it because they know I made it special just for them and it is one of a kind. Just spend the day doing something they really like, I believe all they really want is our undivided attention.

Good Morning S., How about putting up some handmade posters,streamers on the walls,for when he gets up on his Birthday. You can pick up a special birthday plate at a craft store. They have some cute ones, that can be for anyone boy or girl. They get to use the plate the whole day.

Don't be sad S., it shows you have done an Amazing job raise your children as they advance in age. But I do understand how you feel with our Gr kids. We have our last little one for us. Zane is 17 months and not the cuddly snugly little guy the rest of them were. So its kind a hard not to grab that boy and make him let me cuddle.....LOL

God Bless and Hope you Little man has a Wonderful Birthday

K. Nana of 5
PS our Daughter in law always has a very small gift for the boys when she wakes them up on their birthdays, gets them excited for their special day. They get the rest later at their party or whatever.

My parents would put the wrapped presents from my bedroom door down to the breakfast table before I got up in the morning, so that I got to pick up a trail of presents on my way to a yummy breakfast (they weren't expensive-- one year they wrapped ten books they had picked up at my favorite used book store for me). Then all day I was excused from chores, and I got to choose my favorite foods for dinner that night. I always felt special on my birthday, which was important in a family with four children close in age. Happy birthday to your son!

Hey S.,

We do Birthday week. Every day there is something for them. A card, small gift, going for ice cream or McDonalds my kids love this and then when the day is here it is not just over in a few hours. We even do this for the adults.

A co-worker of mine was just telling us about his kids birthdays and traditions. Every birthday- they get to eat a desert of choice... FOR BREAKFAST! Not so healthy but boy, would I feel special!
Another thing I saw in a magazine is the parents will sneak in the childs bedroom (assuming they are not light sleepers) and decorate it w/ streamers, balloons and such which I thought was pretty sweet!

I know what you mean about the sadness!
Have fun!

My son really likes themed birthdays...so weather we buy the cake or make it ourselves, we always make it special. This year he wants Star Wars...well none of the cakes are all that cool so I ordered some MicroMachines off ebay and I'm doing his cake up with a battle scene straight from the movies...he has no idea. I'm also going to do a candy bouqet with a balloon for him and am delivering it to school (sort of how girls always get flowers)...you can have a florist do it too but I figured it was just going to be cheaper to do it myself.

One year for his birthday he wanted a Spiderman birthday. We are lucky that his birthday is right around Easter too...so I bought a bunch of the Spiderman easter eggs and we had a special egg hunt for his party...we also set up all his birthday presents (Spiderman Hot Wheels stuff) in the living room and covered them with blankets. After the egg hunt, cake and ice cream everyone played with the toys...it was a blast!

I think the little things you do will go a long way. I probably err in going over-the-top but then I enjoy that because my parents never did anything special for my birthday (well we would have a nice dinner at home but it may not be on my exact birthday...maybe before or after...time and schedules depending)...so anything you do or any decisions you can let him have on HIS special day makes it all the more special for him... I can tell you, my kids ALWAYS look forward to their birthdays and begin counting the days the day after...LOL... yeah, I'm pretty sad to see him coming up on 6 too...don't know where all that time went!!!??? LOL