Happy Birthday, LollaDAD!
Posted on January 10 2013
I have never been very into birthdays, but my husband's family celebrate's everyone's birthday like it's his/her 21st. Marriage is funny like that: two families, worlds, and traditions collide and you're left to adopt one family's ways or forge your own. My husband and I have, for the most part, taken bits and pieces of our past and forged our own way and traditions for our immediate family.
Today is lollaDAD's birthday. We got an early start and met his folks for breakfast, and they generously offered to have the kids sleep over tonight, so we will be going out for a quiet, s-l-o-w dinner to celebrate. Tonight dear, let's not talk about work, life stresses, etc, but celebrate you and what this year has in store. I love you more and more each year, and I'm looking forward to 2013.
Although we don't make a huge deal about our own birthdays, as parents, we feel it is our duty to make birthdays fun and important for our children. When their birthdays come around, we do our best to really celebrate, whether it's with a party, special outing, or do-whatever-you-want kind of day.
Three years ago, I adopted a friend's birthday tradition. Every birthday party this friend hosted, she had this colorful clown flag hanging somewhere around the festivities. When I asked her about it, she said a family member had made the flag for her family, so it's been a tradition to hang it up during every family member's birthday. I immediately fell in love with the idea. I wasn't going to attempt to make a birthday-themed clown banner, so I went online and found a fabric "Happy Birthday" banner I liked and purchased it. I now hang it up around the house for everyone's birthday. I've also started writing what we did in celebration of each child's birthday on the back, so they'll always know exactly how we celebrated their special day every year. Do you have any fabulous birthday traditions you'd like to share?
Our Family Happy Birthday Banner
2 comments
I, too, LOVE the birthday banner idea! Had no idea you guys were doing that! My birthday tradition has been to try to do something new each year on my birthday. One year, it was skydiving, another year it was going to Hawaii, and this year, it was teaching a 21-year-old woman how to bathe herself. (The last one wasn’t initially my idea, but it ended up falling in line with my tradition and it was a life-altering moment for the woman, so it was all good in the end!) Happy birthday, again, LollaDad! May today bring you new adventures as well!
LollaMom- I LOVE the birthday banner and writing memories from each party on the back! I write a letter to each of our children on their birthday telling them the wonderful things they accomplished in the last year. Although I have to read it to them right now I hope it will be something the enjoy as they grow up. Happy Birthday LollaDad!
-A