Birthday Boy

Today is my son's birthday. He has made the jump from 2 to 3. Does this mean we are leaving the whining and high-pitched screechy cries behind?  It's incredible how quickly time flies. In our family, we celebrate birthdays with a small party (close family and a few friends), some pizza and of course; cake. We always recognize the birthday person regardless of age. It's important to have one day per year that you feel a little more special. We don't plan lavish events and shower the birthday person with gifts. Simple, small and special. I think that there's a big difference in terms of the impact birthdays can have on the birthday child. The over-the-top events are sure to result in an insane amount of useless gifts and expense. What is that communicating to the child? That stuff is important? What I discovered was that I was having these birthday parties for my child and his friends and ultimately (and understandably) would end up with fifteen $20 gifts from the children that were either things we already had, or items I'd prefer not to have (ie. toy guns). I didn't want to stop having kid parties, but I wanted to stop receiving those types of gifts. So, on the last kid party invitation I sent out, I wrote, "Gift cards only please. We are trying to teach the boys about how to manage their money, so gift cards would be a useful teaching tool. Thank you." The result was fantastic. He wound up with all gift cards to a variety of different restaurant and stores. Some he's saved, others he spent. Plus, then he bought what he wanted and frankly it was easier on the parent buying the gift. This is something I will do from now on. Since I knew today is going to be a busy weekday for us, we had family over for the big 3 year old birthday on Saturday. After all our activities today, we'll sing and have cupcakes. Nothing too crazy - but not ignoring the opportunity to make my son feel special, like every child should on their birthday.

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