Birthday Magic

Your birthday is a special time to celebrate

the gift of "you" to the world.

 

 

As each of my childrens' birthday's approach every year I feel a little pang of sadness that the years have gone by so quickly. I wish that I could have a few more moments with each one of my snugly delicious babies. To watch as they discover their chubby baby hands or coo as they wake up from a good nights sleep. I wish that I could experience those sweet moments and really savor them instead of merely survive in a drunken sleep deprived state. Not that I didn't enjoy a good deal of it, I just know that I would be able to appreciate those moments even more now than I did then because I realize the time is so fleeting. 

 

Having said that, I love to take the time leading up to my babies birthday's to remember the events surrounding their birth. I know that they enjoy hearing year after year how their siblings or other relatives eagerly anticipated their arrival. The preparations, the celebrations and the air of excitement as we packed up the car and headed to the hospital, knowing that we would FINALLY get to meet the sweet little person that we had already grown to love.

 

This past weekend was my third child's 10th birthday and I thought it might be fun to share some of our birthday traditions. As the above quote says, a birthday really is a fun time to celebrate the gift of "you", or the gift of your children.

 

Our oldest tradition is of course retelling of their birth story. Now I'm not talking about the "nitty gritty" details, just the basics. A couple of days before Bastian's 10th birthday I began the countdown, saying things like, "Ten years ago right now, we were eating dinner at Nanny and Papo's house. That night we took pictures of Tan and Brin kissing my belly." or "Ten years ago right now, I was THIS big" grossly over exaggerating for theatrical value. 

 

When my kiddo's were born I bought them each a journal and quickly filled in some of those details so that I could always remember what I was thinking and feeling as we were waiting to meet the newest member of our family. I wrote in their journals a lot when they were little, jotting down little anecdotes that I wanted to remember. Nowadays I have made it a goal to, at the very least, write in their journals on their birthdays. I think this will give them a little insight into the different struggles I went through as a parent, and also an idea of who they were in their early years.

 

Growing up I had a friend whose family would always decorate their mantel with birthday wishes and gifts for the birthday boy or girl. Having a family of eight, I can only imagine the preparation involved in each celebration. I loved the idea of continuing this tradition in my own family, but shopping for supplies in addition to the other birthday necessities almost ended this idea for me before I had even given it a chance to grow. That was until a friend of mine showed me some beautiful banners that her sister Amy made for different holidays including birthdays. I knew that I needed to have one. So I purchased the banner and a big stash of balloon's and now, with very little effort, my kids get a fun birthday surprise.

 

Here is a link to Amy's blog. She is such a talented seamstress with fun ideas and tutorials. http://amerooniedesigns.blogspot.com/2010/10/birthday-box.html   

 



Food is a big part of our birthday festivities. The birthday boy or girl gets to decide what is on the menu for breakfast, which is served in bed, and dinner. I also take them out to lunch to the restaurant of their choice. I like to give them fun breakfast options since this is my favorite meal to prepare. I have done funfetti pancakes, coconut encrusted french toast, pannakoeken, and loads of other things. Bastian opted for egg salad with kielbassa on toast. He is such an easy going kid!

 

This year I started something new. I thought it would be fun to let perfect strangers in on the excitement of the birthday that we were celebrating. This is also an idea where you can invest a little time and money and tuck it away for the next birthday. I bought a car window marker and wished my birthday boy a "Happy Birthday". On the back window I encouraged drivers to "Honk to wish Bastian a Happy Birthday". We have had such a fun time driving around in our "Celebration Mobile" that I'm having a hard time thinking about washing it off, luckily we have another birthday to celebrate in just over a month, so I think I will survive.

 

 

 

So, what are some of your birthday traditions. I would love to add to our list and continue celebrating in new ways each year!