Last weekend Lilia turned 4, her golden birthday. We had a party complete with balloons, friends, family, and cupcakes. I decorated. I invited her to choose what kind of cupcakes she wanted and I made it happen (strawberry and broccoli were her choices, no joke). I even let her choose my least favorite food for dinner – hotdogs.
She was the star of the day and I did everything I could to make her feel special.
Ryan and I go a long ways to make sure our kids do not think they are the center of the universe. When we see selfish behavior, we try and address it immediately. I make a point to never even ask the question “what do you want for Christmas?” Because when it comes to Christmas, I do not want them to immediately think of themselves, of presents, of getting.
But, when it comes to birthdays, all bets are off. We want our kids to know how glad we are to have them in our family; we want them to be celebrated for who they are, and birthdays are the perfect opportunity to do that.
It doesn’t mean spending a lot of money on gifts and no, I’m sure we will not have a big “friends and family” party every year for every birthday. This year it meant anticipating the day together as a family – talking about what kinds of cupcakes we’d have and letting her help make them, making party hats together (from toilet paper rolls, these were a blast to make with the kids), blowing up balloons. It meant daddy took her out for a donut and mama spray painted a few things gold and we just made a day of celebrating her life. And this year because it was her golden birthday and because it fell conveniently on a weekend, the last weekend before summer even, we made it even more special by inviting our friends and family to share our joy.
I make a big deal out of birthdays because my children are a good gift. I want them to grow up knowing that they are not the center of the universe, that they are part of something far larger than themselves, and that they are fully and wonderfully loved.
why i make a big deal out of birthdays