A Birthday Date
A little over a year ago, when Ani turned 5, we took her on a birthday date.
I’d been meaning to start this birthday tradition for several years but somehow always missed it when a birthday actually rolled around.
But in Arizona, our local rec center had a climbing wall that we’d gone to several times and you couldn’t use it until you were 5 years old.
And Ani, of course, was DYING to try it.
For months, she talked about how, when she turned 5 she’d be old enough to go climbing and when her birthday got closer, I realized that her big day fell on the day that I already had my regular babysitter scheduled so I could work in the morning, which meant it was very easy for me to take her climbing that morning for her birthday with just the two of us.
Of course, when I mentioned this to Bart, he didn’t want to miss out on the fun and he arranged to take the morning off of work so we could take her together.
Ani was THRILLED.
As one of four children, getting both parents to yourself is a rare treat and she soaked up all the attention.
There also wasn’t anyone else on the climbing wall so she got try as many times as she wanted, gaining confidence with each attempt, and Bart and I did some climbing too.
Afterward, we went to a nearby restaurant that offers $10 off on your birthday and had a little lunch together and it was just the BEST time.
We took her straight to school afterward and when I picked her up that afternoon, her teachers told us how she’d wanted to share all about her birthday date.
This past year’s outing was a little less grandiose – we took her to the rec center to play some games for about 30 minutes and then went to get donuts before Bart went to work. It turned out that I actually liked that the focus wasn’t on WHAT we did as much as just making a little time to focus on one child at a time.
Last week, we took Star on HER first birthday date when she turned four and Ella’s already counting down the days until HER birthday date (last year, her birthday was just days before our move and her birthday date didn’t happen, much to my chagrin).
Whether it’s going to the bookstore just the three of us, going out to lunch or grabbing some donuts or ice cream, it’s really special to focus on just the birthday girl.
It’s been a fun addition to our small collection of birthday traditions and I’m looking forward to lots of years of birthday dates celebrating each one of our birthday girls individually.
Have you done something like this? I’d love to hear what’s been a hit in your family!
We did this last year when my big kid turned 6. We went to a local grocery store with attached cafe (free tables), brought some donuts and played his new board games. It was so fun to play during the day, and donuts are always a hit. I’m looking forward to doing it on his next birthday.
Oh that’s so fun!
I just started this last month when my son turned 4 so I won’t call it a tradition just yet. I took him to do some volunteer work. He basically had to sort all the donated toys in categories and display them on shelves. I had him pick out some of his own toys to donate as well. He had soooo much fun! After being there for 3 hours, I had to give him a 5 minute warning multiple times before we he actually agreed to leave. Volunteering morning of each birthday – hoping to make this a tradition!
Oh this is so sweet – what a great way to do it!
There are a lot of local thrift stores that would be good about this. Super good idea! Here are a few other volunteer opportunities we have used in the past – Go to a hospital and ask if there is a kid who would like to play games (mancala, chess, whatever your child likes). We found a middle school aged boy who had broken his femur and was in traction (for six months!). We came and cheered him up several times before they sent him home! One year after a hurricane/windstorm we went to the zoo to help pick up sticks around the monkey cages. The monkeys were fun, the little kids played on the play equipment when they got tired, and we made the zoo tidy in that area. Super fun. Make cookies for a neighbor. Invite a lonely friend over. Clean toys in a nursery at church. Pull weeds at a church or nonprofit.
We stumbled into a birthday tradition because I ran out of time to bake the birthday cake before the birthday dinner, so my husband baked the cake with the birthday boy. Every year since it has been tradition for the birthday boy to pick out the cake mix, etc and bake with daddy. They adore it! My hope is that this tradition continues as long as we have kids living at home.
We also do the no chores on your birthday and the birthday kid picks out the dinner menu. We’ve eating lots of mac n cheese, pringles and pudding over the years! lol
I love hearing what other families do for birthday and holiday traditions. It often seems like the simplest things become so special.
We do this too, except my husband and I alternate taking each of our three kids on a date on their birthday and half-birthday! I love having one-on-one time with each kid, and with only one parent present, it forces me to focus solely on my child (no side conversations with my husband!). My son turned four a few weeks ago, and requested McDonald’s and the grocery store as his date destinations 🙂
We brought lunch to kids at school, anything they wanted. We came across all kinds of pushback from the schools. No fast food on campus. SO we brought a lunchbox and a bunch of zip lock bags to a chicken restaurant and repackaged it. When allowed we stayed and ate with them. Many times we hid the present and used yarn tangles all over the living room to find them, or wrote or took pictures that were clues.
Wanted to give you a tip, in Utah there are quite a few See’s Candies that is kind of “grown up” candy for kids but they also have suckers etc. It’s super nice to be part of your special day to pick out a candy treat.