10 Simple Birthday Ideas
Posted by Kate Wicker in Homemaking on Friday, April 15, 2011 6:00 AM
Growing up, my mom always made a big deal about my brothers and my birthdays. There was cake to be sure, usually a rainbow bouquet of balloons, and a gift or two.
But that’s not really what they made our birthdays so special. It was the way Mom made you feel, the way she’d serve a favorite breakfast, or tuck a secret birthday card beneath your pillow for you to find before you went to bed on your birthday night. It was the way she greeted you in the morning, immediately singing, “Happy Birthday” to you and giving you a big hug no matter how old you were turning.
I’m officially a big girl now; yet, my parents called me on my birthday, a card arrived in the mail, and I was surprised with beautiful arrangement of flowers. What my parents did and still do on my birthday is make me feel like a treasured gift in their lives.
I want to do the same for my own children. Fortunately, despite what the profitable kids’ birthday industry might have you believe, you don’t need a herd of show-ponies, a monster inflatable slide, a Martha Stewart-inspired cake, or even a tower of gifts to put a smile on your child’s face. There are other, less excessive, more creative ways to give your children birthdays they will never forget.
Here, 10 simple ways to commemorate your child’s life:
1. Bring out the baby book. On your child’s birthday, take time to look at pictures, and tell stories about the day of her birth. Recount what happened and how you felt when you first held her in your arms.
2. If you’re child goes to school or eats a meal outside of the home, put birthday surprises in lunchbox. You can decorate lunch bags for younger children with stickers and glitter. Put “Happy Birthday” notes in older children’s lunches. And don’t forget to stick in a birthday cupcake or other favorite treat.
3. Pamper your child. After tucking him in, give him a long backrub and share funny stories about his childhood. If you have a daughter who likes her hair braided or styled a certain way, go all out on her birthday. Let kids soak in a warm bubble bath. Give your daughter a pedicure or manicure. Feed your son his favorite snacks.
4. Write your child a letter every year. This is a tradition I’ve adopted for my own daughters, and I plan on putting a book together of their birthday letters. In the letter, talk about what she’s doing at this stage of her life. You can also include snippets on what’s going on historically from big national events to popular songs. On each birthday, consider reading the letter from the previous year. When your kids are older, you can compile the letters and make a book to give to them on a special birthday or at the birth of their first child. I plan on giving the collection of letters to each of my girls as a send-off gift when they flock from the nest and head to college.
5. Sing “Happy Birthday” to your child at the time of her birth, even if that means showing up at his school. This gesture should obviously be reserved for younger children unless you want older children to die from embarrassment and forbid you from ever stepping foot in their school again.
6. Make a birthday scrapbook or photo album. Take photos of each birthday celebration and put them together in a birthday memory book. Take the album out each year on your child’s birthday and enjoy the photos and memories together.
7. Celebrate your child’s birthday with a treasured story. Go to a bookstore with a kids’ section and pick out a book for you to share together. Find a quiet corner and read the tale. Then purchase it as a take-home birthday souvenir. Don’t forget to sign and date the book’s inside cover.
8. Arrange a day or even just an hour to spend alone with the birthday boy or girl. This is a great way to make your child feel special, especially if you’re not throwing a big birthday bash. Hit the playground. Park yourselves on your porch swing and sip lemonade or hot cocoa (depending on the weather) together. Visit the zoo. Go to a local museum. Take a stroll through a butterfly garden. Hike a nature trail. Attend a sporting event. Find the perfect outing to meet your child’s interests and then relish in your time together.
9. Plan a birthday scavenger hunt. Hide a small gift under your child’s pillow and include a clue. When she wakes up, she will open the gift and discover a clue that leads her to another gift and clue until she has several little gifts to start out her day.
10. Pray for your child. During your mealtime or bedtime prayers, pray aloud for your birthday girl or boy. Name three (or more) things you love about him. Bless your child, and celebrate the gift she gave you the day she was born.
—Senior writer Kate Wicker blogs at Katewicker.com.
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