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Birthday traditions - 10 ways to create magical moments
Birthday traditions
10 ways to create magical moments
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By Kara Ferraro
For your child, their birthday celebration is the most anticipated day of the year! And as soon as the party is over, they are talking about what they want to do or get for their next birthday - 364 days away! You want your child’s birthday to be spectacular and each year, as your child gets older and their wants become greater, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype of trying to outdo last year’s celebration.
Growing up with three siblings, one whose birthday is two days after mine, my parents tried their best to make each of our birthdays special. My siblings and I would come home from school and there would be balloons, gifts, and handmade cards around the ‘birthday chair.’ As soon as the birthday kid finished dinner, the birthday child was directed to sit in the birthday chair and would proceed to open up their gifts; it was a magical moment I waited for all year.
On my 10th birthday, I received a blue three-speed bike. Aside from the speed bike, the only gift I remember receiving is a small wooden trinket box my mother had polyurethaned with random magazine pictures and a groovy picture of me with a ‘shag’ haircut and the date ‘1976’ on the inside. That was many years ago, but I still have my trinket box today.
As a mother of two children, I look at birthdays in a new light. I think back on my own childhood memories and realize that now I have the control to create family birthday traditions for my kids. Finding simple, inexpensive ways to turn an ordinary day into an extraordinary birthday celebration may take a little time and creativity, but it can be done. What your child wants more than anything on their birthday is to feel like it is their special day, so find ways to help celebrate it with them!
Here are 10 ways you can start your own birthday traditions to create magical moments that your child will remember for years to come: 1. The night before your child’s birthday, decorate the house or their bedroom with balloons, confetti, flowers, or a homemade birthday banner. 2. Wake up your child by singing “Happy Birthday.” 3. Start the day off by making your child a special birthday breakfast. 4. Pull out their baby pictures or other birthday pictures and decorate the house. 5. Stick a special birthday snack or note in your child’s lunchbox. 6. Have lunch with your child at school and bring cupcakes. (Okay, they may not like this when they get older, but during the elementary-school years that box of cupcakes will be hard to resist!) 7. Have your child help you make their birthday cake. It’s more fun for them to decorate the cake and get sugared up on eating the extra batter, frosting, and sprinkles than it is for them to eat the cake - regardless of their age. 8. Plan a special birthday family outing each year: a trip to the lake or the beach, a picnic in the park, or a trip to your favorite pizza joint or movie theatre. 9. Start a scrapbook each year on your child’s birthday and decorate the cover with a picture that was taken on their birthday. 10. Each birthday, take a picture of your child at the exact time they were born (perhaps when they are sleeping if they were born at 3am!).
Regardless of your child’s age or interests, birthdays are a special day for them. The key to making them feel special is that you remember the whole day is their birthday - so celebrate and let them enjoy it! By taking some time out to create your own family birthday traditions, you will be giving your child something to look forward to throughout the year - and for a lifetime.
Kara is a publisher and mother of two. She is always looking for clever and inexpensive ways to start new traditions with her family, as well as carry on traditions from her childhood. CCM
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