Celebrating Your Kiddo's Birthday!
Published On: May 31, 2025Happy birthday to me!
Tomorrow, I turn 53 – gulp. That’s a lot of birthdays – not only mine, but celebrations for my kids, husband, and extended family. Celebrating a person is one of the coolest things we can do in a family or community – it screams “we’re so glad you’re here!”
Today, I reflected on my favorite birthday celebrations, a few memories are more vivid than others. They were all about spending time with people I love, laughing, sharing stories, and generally enjoying the company of family and friends.
Celebrating Our Kids
We hosted a backyard party with a bouncy house for our twins from the time they were in Pre-K until they bounced one of their friends clear out the side of the giant, inflated, human-collision room – at that point they were just physically too big.
Each year we would ask them what they wanted to do to celebrate their birthdays. After mulling through what all their friends’ parties were that year, again and again, they chose the backyard bash. They loved it because they felt comfortable, did not have a hard stop, and could play endlessly with their best palls.
I learned early on that overplanning the day resulted in less fun for all – so, I made sure that I had activities at the ready if they needed a little inspiration. Other than that, they got creative and played for hours with a quick break for lunch and cake and ice cream of course!
Their friends looked forward to celebrating with them each year. We'll keep celebrating our kiddos every chance we get to make sure they know “we’re so glad they’re here!”
When I Was a Kid
My favorite birthday party was when I turned 9 and my sister and mother gathered up three of my friends to celebrate. We trekked over to a friend’s farm in New Hampshire and explored the hay-laden domiciles of all kinds of animals from ducks to donkeys. We left filthy and fulfilled from a day feeding and petting the animals. What a great gift of a fond memory for me, compliments of my sister and mother.
Share your favorite childhood birthday celebration with us on Facebook.
Tomorrow, I turn 53 – gulp. That’s a lot of birthdays – not only mine, but celebrations for my kids, husband, and extended family. Celebrating a person is one of the coolest things we can do in a family or community – it screams “we’re so glad you’re here!”
Today, I reflected on my favorite birthday celebrations, a few memories are more vivid than others. They were all about spending time with people I love, laughing, sharing stories, and generally enjoying the company of family and friends.
Celebrating Our Kids
We hosted a backyard party with a bouncy house for our twins from the time they were in Pre-K until they bounced one of their friends clear out the side of the giant, inflated, human-collision room – at that point they were just physically too big.
Each year we would ask them what they wanted to do to celebrate their birthdays. After mulling through what all their friends’ parties were that year, again and again, they chose the backyard bash. They loved it because they felt comfortable, did not have a hard stop, and could play endlessly with their best palls.
I learned early on that overplanning the day resulted in less fun for all – so, I made sure that I had activities at the ready if they needed a little inspiration. Other than that, they got creative and played for hours with a quick break for lunch and cake and ice cream of course!
Their friends looked forward to celebrating with them each year. We'll keep celebrating our kiddos every chance we get to make sure they know “we’re so glad they’re here!”
When I Was a Kid
My favorite birthday party was when I turned 9 and my sister and mother gathered up three of my friends to celebrate. We trekked over to a friend’s farm in New Hampshire and explored the hay-laden domiciles of all kinds of animals from ducks to donkeys. We left filthy and fulfilled from a day feeding and petting the animals. What a great gift of a fond memory for me, compliments of my sister and mother.
Share your favorite childhood birthday celebration with us on Facebook.