Special Birthday Traditions

I wanted to share with y'all some ways that we made Silas’ birthday special this year. We hope to continue these as long lasting family traditions. Silas's birthday falls the week after Fourth of July. Our second child's birthday will be a few days before Thanksgiving. So, our kids will have to share their birthdays around holiday seasons. Since we want them to have birthday parties where their friends can actually come, we have to reschedule when to celebrate a big get together. But, we don't want to forget about their actual birthdays, so I have come up with a list of ways to love and celebrate them. My hope is that these fun little traditions will make up for the fact that they can't have a party on their actual birthday.

Birthday Cake Pancakes

For his birthday breakfast, I found a recipe on Pinterest for birthday cake pancakes. Unfortunately, I ran out of milk, but thankfully water worked just as well in a pinch. I made him cake batter pancakes, with sprinkles and a sugar glaze. These were from scratch, per the recipe, and they turned out a little dry with a cake taste. I think I would have been better off just using pancake mix and scooping out the difference for the cake mix. He liked them though, and since it's his birthday that's really all that matters. I'll just have to find a better recipe in order to continue the tradition! Oh, and I also made bacon, which is a favorite of our family's in general.

Birthday Plate

This is a tradition I want to get on board with! I want to get a “birthday plate” so whenever it's someone's birthday they have a special plate that only they get to use, that's all decorated and fun. I received the honor of eating from “the birthday plate” one year at a friends house when it was my birthday, so I would love to carry-on the tradition with my family.

Presents

I got Silas something that I knew he would really love. It's not a “big” present, but it's certainly unique to him and appropriate for his age. He loves airplanes and anything transportation related. I had seen those Playskool airplanes that make noise, and I knew I had to get him one. I was able to find mine on Amazon for a little under $20, which wasn't too bad when they're kind of discontinued. I've only ever seen them (2nd hand) with one little person and the airplane was not always in the greatest shape. I also got him 2 airplane books, because we love encouraging him to read (it helps that he also loves books on his own).

Special Things

For Silas's birthday he was given some money from my mom and aunt. That side of the family likes to give dollar bills on birthdays (usually in the amount that you are turning for the younger years). The tradition is that you can go to the dollar store and buy whatever you want. And since you have a few dollars to your name, that usually means multiple toys/candy. We have decided to carry on this tradition with Silas. It's still kind of hard for him to pick out things for himself, so we helped him along with things he would enjoy.

Another fun thing we did with Silas, was take him to a playground with a splash pad, zip line and double play grounds. This is literally the best playground in our city and Silas just adores it. We could spend hours there every day. We also got milkshakes from Chick-fil-A, because we have their calendar card (which means they were free, an added bonus). This particular event would have been “whatever fun thing he wants” but as he can't express those interests right now, we choose this for him.

I hope these fun and sweet little things help inspire you, or give you some ideas on how to show your kids special love on their special day. Some people don't care at all about their birthdays, and some people have super high expectations. I think part of that is because their birthdays may have been lacking when they were younger and as adults, they are trying to brush off old feelings of insecurity and not being appreciated. It's not about money, it's about making long lasting and a magical memories. At the end of the day, do your kids know you love them? If so, that's all that really matters. <3 Amanda