My sweet Tati is now 10 years old!!!
Sorry, no pictures of her special day! We only have Nigel’s work camera and one of his crews needed it--- I was sad and frustrated. I think when our tax return gets here I will just go out and buy one!
And sorry it took me so long to post! I have NO IDEA why I ever commit to doing anything during the week. I am so swamped w/ the kids that it is hard to add any extra tasks to my “to do” list! Anyway, here it is…..
Our Birthday Traditions……
1. We stay up late the night before (while the b-day child is sleeping) and fill their room with balloons. We blow up at least 100 balloons on the ground and then add 20 helium balloons. This year we didn’t have the helium balloons--- but it was still fun… and a week later they are still playing w/ them!!!
2. We always make their favorite breakfast, decorate the breakfast table and put candles in their breakfast. The b-day child wears our family birthday hat and we sing a special Willard version of “Happy Birthday” to them! (This year we ate- waffles, warm cereal, bagels, eggs, fruit, fresh squeezed O.J, bacon and sausage)
3. We always let them plan something fun to do on their birthday!!
4. Again…. They get their favorite lunch and dinner. (Tati had lunch w/ Troy this year but we made her FAVORITE DINNER--- STEAK!!! I also planned two of her other favorite meals for during the week.)
This year we adopted MANY of the traditions below and we LOVED every second of it! We had signs posted all around the house that Isaac, Adam and Jacob had made Tati, we shared our favorite memories of her and I wrote them down in her journal AND she received 10 small gifts (one for each year) to open up at the breakfast table--- which she really had fun with! The kids asked how old they would be when we stopped this tradition --- I should have said 18 BUT I said….. never! Tati is looking forward to her 60th birthday because I will still be alive (hopefully) and she will get 60 gifts. LOL There is currently a poll being taken in our home to guess how long I will live!!! I keep reminding them that old ladies like candy and I will probably just wrap 60 individual M&M’s!
Some of the new traditions will happen during her birthday party. Anyway, thank you for taking the time to share with us you ideas! I truly believe that traditions are the “magical moments” your kids will remember forever. (Oh, and I totally plan to make the birthday wreath this summer!)
Birthday Traditons!
“As a kid on my birthday I was able to choose where ever I wanted to go to dinner and it was just me and my parents. Everyone else had to stay home!” Nancy Tippetts
“My dad always took the birthday child on a one-on-one date out to breakfast or lunch.” Audrey
“We choose our favorite food for the day, have a special date out with just mom and dad (whatever we wanted-usually a nice dinner), always a party, and we open gifts the morning of our birthday. A new outfit is part of the birthday to celebrate! We have a decorated "Birthday Chair" which is special for just that child. And we don't have to go to school if we don't want to. We celebrate for 2 or 3 days to fit it all in:) I believe Birthday's should last a week!”
“I thought about one more thing....I always take time to write in my kids journals on their birthdays, my documented tribute to them.” Julie Anderegg
“Every year for each child we wake them up with the whole family there singing happy birthday and serve them breakfast in bed with a personal cake and all their presents. We like to start the birthday out right!” Charity Blakely
“We always get to choose what we eat for breakfast (usually crepes) lunch, dinner and dessert (not always cake). My newest favorite tradition is memory trading - having everyone tell about a favorite memory involving the birthday person.” Shannon Phair
"With our kids - they always get breakfast in bed on their bdays. Typically pancakes or french toast - then put a few candles in it. It’s fun and they wait all year to get it again!" Tiffani Bishop
"Birthday signs around the house (as you've seen months later at mine) the number of gifts that they are turning that year (just small inexpensive fun things, all wrapped individually then wrapped in one big box if possible), all meals of their choice." Maria Trump
"My kids always get a date with their dad." Brooke Carter
From: ldssplash.com......
Birthday Wreath - On our birthdays in our family we have a birthday wreath that we put on the front door to let everyone know we are celebrating a birthday. It is made from a straw wreath. Then you take balloons fold in half over the ""u"" shaped florist picks and stick it into the wreath. You can make it as full looking as you want by the amount of balloons you stick on. (I used about 600 balloons in fun colors-its full enough to not see the straw part of the wreath) Then use cake picks that say Happy Birthday and curly ribbon to add to it. Heather Loverde
Favorite Restaurant - I like to have my children go to their favorite restaurant of their choice. - Birdie McBryan
Decorate Before Waking - My children are 8 and 10.Every year they look forward to waking up to balloons, confetti and banners in the living room the morning of their birthday. Just having the decorations up all day, in their honor, makes them smile. Then we open presents and they get to pick the restaurant of their choice. - Laura Sebren
Birthday Date - For our kids birthdays we have a special birthday ""date"" with mom and dad. We take them out to dinner to the restaurant of their choice. It is a good way to celebrate with them, and have some one on one time. Then when we get home we have cake and presents with the whole family. - Michelle Simmons
Birthday Frame -Every year on my son's birthday I make a picture frame using the wrapping paper his gifts came in. I buy a 5x7 wood picture frame from a craft store and make a collage using the pieces of the wrapping paper on the matt frame that comes inside the frame. When the frame is finished I put a photograph of my son from his birthday party. I hang the picture on the wall and have a memory of each birthday. I am able to see how he is growing and changing each year. The wrapping paper also shows what movies, shows, characters were popular in a given year. - Dawn Hearn
Birthday Dinner - Let the birthday boy/girl pick either their favorite meal that can be made, or their favorite restaurant that they can go to for their birthday.
Special Plate - It is fun to have a "special" plate (or a birthday crown) for the birthday person to use at meals, that is used only for birthdays. You can make a plate or buy a fun one at the store.
No Chores - Let the birthday child have no chores on their birthday.
Letters to Remember - Write a special letter to your child each birthday. Keep them in a special place.
Inviting - Let the kids invite as many friends as how old they are. If they turn 7, they can invite 7 friends.
A Gift of Freedom - Give a gift of freedom. this works great with teenagers. You can give "no bedtime", "more car time", "one month of a later curfew", "no dishes for two weeks", etc.
King For a Day - While growing up we were made King for a Day, which entitled us to decide what we would eat, what we would do, and make us void of any tasks ie: cleaning, chores, etc. And the honor of being King or Queen for the day. - Clark Saxey
Pick a Cake - Each year each of our children get to pick out what they want their birthday cake to look like, (rocket ship, cartoon character, favorite animal, etc.) They spend months in advance trying to decide! - Kari Pollock
Hide the Presents - I let my children's party guests hide the presents while the birthday child is out of the room. Then he/she has the fun of finding all the presents as well as unwrapping them. - Kristi Kramer
Breakfast in Bed - Every person's birthday is started out with a special breakfast in bed and they are awakened by the whole family singing happy birthday to them. The children know this and start hinting about their favorite breakfast a few days before!
Birthday Schedule - Having big birthday parties each year was becoming expensive and a lot of work. So, we developed a schedule that works for us. Our kids have parties on their 4th, 8th, 12th, and 16th Birthdays. On the other birthdays (once they are old enough) they are allowed to have 1 or 2 friends over depending on their age. -Cindy Wilkinson
Hide and Sing! - On your child's birthday hide all their presents and sing their favorite song . When they are close sing loud. When they are far sing soft. This makes getting presents fun!!!! - Danica Greenall
Candle Wish - We generally have an extended family birthday party the night of someone's birthday, but we found that we still wanted something within just our immediate family that made each birthday a little more personal and meaningful. At dinner we pass out a birthday candle to each member of the family. Before we eat, we pass around a small dessert. Each person takes a turn putting in their candle and telling the birthday girl/boy something they love about them, something about them they're thankful for, or something they wish for them. Then they pass the dessert to the next person and that person says something and adds their candle. It continues until everyone has added their candle. Then we light the candles and sing Happy Birthday. It really makes the birthday special. - Catherine Knowles
Birth Day Stories - The birthday child gets to stay up a little later after the other children have gone to bed and Mommy and Daddy tell him/her about the day they were born, and how their parents felt when that special child joined their family. We also look through our scrapbook/photo album and talk about how they've grown up from last year. - Shayla Heath
Birthday Balloons - On each child's birthday (or the day we have the party) the child wakes up to a Mylar birthday balloon tied to his/her bed. As the children are little it's fun to hear the siblings say, ""It's John's birthday"" as they see the balloon. My sister puts one latex balloon for each year they are old. - Wendy Combs
PLEASE leave your favorite memories of Tati in the comments as well as any other birthday traditions that we have not already posted! Thanks!!!
Oh, one more thing! PLEASE leave your St. Patrick's Day traditions-- I need to get things ready tomorrow!!
2 comments:
Dear Tiana,
Hope you had a happy birthday.
I have so many good memories of you. When you were little and living in Texas you use to call me on the phone every day and talk for hours. One day you needed to go to the bathroom but didn't want me to get cold while you were gone, so you set the phone in the sunshine.
You use to play hide and seek with me by hiding the phone & then you would go around looking for me & pretending not to remember where you hid "me" (the phone)and tried to find me.
One time we were talking on the phone about the garden things we planted. You told me you and your mom had planted some vegetables in a planter on your patio. You ran out and pulled up the plants so you could bring them in and hold them up to the phone and show me. That was the end of your garden, but it was cute of you to want to show me your plants.
I loved the time you came to stay with us for a week, we had a lot of fun together during that time. You were such an easy little girl to have around, you always minded very well, didn't complain about anything, and cleaned up after yourself so well and always said the cutest things, you had Grandpa and me laughing all the time. You were a joy to have here and sure didn't want to let you go back home, but Mom insisted.
As you grew older I remember taking you to dinner (maybe last year) for your birthday and while we waited for the food we asked you what your favorite subject was in school and you said recess--of course, then math. We quizzed you on some math problems and you were so good I had to figure out the answer before I asked you the question because you could do it faster than I could.
Grandpa and I sure do love you and all the wonderful memories we have with our sweet granddaughter.
Love you,
Grandma and Grandpa Ludwig
Wow, fun ideas! Thanks for collecting and posting! And Happy Birthday Tati!
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