jennyjennygenesis
homemaking, homeschooling, and striving for holiness
The Birthday Conundrum
There has been talk of “slowing down,” or making it a more “doable” project, but there has been little else in terms of progress! It’s pretty tough to stop yourself when the children are so sweet, and the opportunity to dote on them comes up. I just want them to FEEL THE LOVE!
I once heard a story of a mother (keep in mind she had only one daughter) who took a whole roll of film’s worth of pictures every year on her birthday. She dressed her up in this cool paisley hippie dress, so if you look at the pictures on the wall the first row is an infant in a dress-nest, then as she gets older she puts the too-big dress on, and eventually as she becomes a teenager she starts to fit the dress! I thought it was a wonderful idea, but haven’t been able to actually pull it off…..
We typically do a family dinner with the Birthday Child’s choice of food (usually sushi or burritos) and then some type of cake, that the Birthday Child and ONLY the Birthday Child helps with. We give a couple of gifts, and that’s okay, but the BEST part (for me, anyway) is the signs. We make signs the night before (sometimes sluggishly, cursing all the while), to post around the house informing the world of the person in the house who is a whole year older! The kids always giggle at the sign I put on the lid of the toilet! It’s such a simple thing, that brings so much joy….
Then there are the PARTIES! I personally have had quite enough birthday parties to last me a life time, but I know I can’t give up now, not with some children who really want exciting birthday parties – especially since they may even remember them! I think that’s a common mistake. We spend all this time and energy getting cool themed birthday parties all set up for our young children, and before they’re even old enough to ENJOY the dag-gone party, the mom and dad are so sick of the party procuring business they’re ready to take the kid to a movie, shove a cake with burning candles in his face, and be done with it!
I have had dance parties, sleep-over parties, color-themes parties, swim parties, pizza parties, parties at a gym, outdoor parties, parties in a pavilion, beach parties, bowling parties, chuckie cheese parties, putt-putt parties, scavenger hunt, and pirate parties, man the parties I have had! I almost would go so far as to say….I am a party expert. And I want to scale back, really I do, but….but…..it’s too much fun! I want to hear your party stories, and your scaling back and not getting burned out stories! What are your families birthday traditions?
jennyjennygenesis 
oh no I wrote a long thing and it disappeared…
But basically it said… my parents were to burned out by the time jeanie and I came along and my sisters were into their own things so they were kind of a let down. And I really hated sharing my birthday. But I LOVE the Thomason/Giordano bday events. It feelslike everyones bday. More of a celebration of family. I hope you keep them going until they beg you to stop… the hand made cards, the kids making signs, the simple but huge dinners… and the pictures to remeber it by. I LOVE IT, and Ill say by default you ARE a party master!!! GB ❤