September is our mega birthday month. All three of my kids, my husband, and both of my parents. It gets pretty crazy in there. Trying to figure out how to celebrate and trying to make sure everyone knows how special they are. It can also get expensive. As a young family on a budget, that many celebrations in one month can get out of hand real quick.
We are still a work in progress, but when the twins turned two earlier this month, we had a lot of success with the less stuff, more love approach. A couple things I really enjoyed and plan to make regular traditions in are home are:
Letting the other kids help pick out birthday gifts. I took Noah (almost 4) along with me to pick out his brother’s birthday gifts. I explained how much money we had to spend and what I was thinking before we got to the store. Helping pick out what we purchased gave Noah a sense of ownership in the gifts and it was really neat to see him so excited about giving the gifts.
Family Breakfast. We have a big, loving family. While this is awesome, sometimes it doesn’t leave us a lot of room to make our own traditions as a family. This year, before we left the house, we had a special birthday breakfast in our pajamas. Nothing super fancy. I made pancakes, we ate on special paper plates, each birthday boy got his own birthday balloon. It was fun to start the day off together, enjoying each other’s company on their special day.
I wasn’t afraid to tell people the kids have a lot of stuff. I love and appreciate all gifts that people give our boys. They are always thoughtful and the boys love it. However, we do have a lot of stuff. And sometimes people are looking for another option that isn’t a toy that will get broken or forgotten in a month. If people asked for ideas, I told them we do have a 529 College Savings Account set up for the boys and would love any money to be given for this account. (I gave the couple people that liked this option the choice to make the checks to us and have us deposit them, or they could make them directly to the account manager).
Birthdays are a fun and special time for everyone, especially children. After trying both large and small birthday celebrations, it didn’t seem to matter to my kids how big the party was, or how many gifts there were. What they loved the most was feeling special. Was the hugs and kisses from people who love and adore them.
So next time you are getting ready to plan that next big birthday party, take a minute to sit down and talk to your kids. Plan something you can do as a family. Invest your time in their special day. In the long run they will appreciate that a lot more than your cash.
How about you? How do you celebrate birthdays on a budget?
Linked up on Finer Things Friday.
Home in the Heartland 