Pad Patter: 8/28 Birthday Parties! wootie woooooooooooooooo

[AnneofAlamo]

lol!
tomorrow our twins turn 15!
In our house, due to the large amount of people, we set up a birthday party rule.
Every year, a birthday meal(home or out - their choice), cupcakes and presents with family.
But on the 5's! When they turn 5, 10, 15, They can have cash or a party!
MY girls chose a party!!!
So we are having a houseful, the theme?
Moustache and Hello Kitty! lol
pin the moustache on Hello Kitty and a big scavenger hunt planned,
fire pit and cook their own hotdogs and smores!!

Do you all have special things for birthdays?

 

[sushimommy]

We usually either let our kids (just two, birthdays 5 months apart) choose either a family mini-trip or a birthday party with friends. We also have a family dinner somewhere near the birthday (just my immediate family is almost 30 people) - dutch treat meal with the grands and available aunts/uncles/cousins. DD didn't get to have one this year when she turned 10 because we all had the flu the weeks before, during, and after her birthday (in January) so I am sure she will have grand plans for 11.

 

[lorryfach]

In Denmark, people make a big deal of the decade birthdays, but I was too ill when I turned 30 for a party, and I've been patiently waiting for 40. lol Younger Daughter is turning 4 in October and doesn't quite "get" it yet. Elder Daughter is turning 6 in 13 days and can barely contain herself. Our flat is too small to have people over so we're doing her party at an indoor play area.

 

[LeeAndra]

Birthdays are a big deal on my side of the family. Everyone, young or old, gets a family party every year. My mom makes a cake of the birthday person's choosing, and there are presents, too. With me being the only one who lives far away, I bring the kiddos up to have their family parties at my parents' house. A couple weeks ago, Miss Monkey had a 'hulu' (luau) party where she got to wear a flower lei and grass skirt and eat a big pink cake with Hawaiian flowers on it.

On the actual birthday, the birthday person gets a homemade meal and cake of their choosing, wears a special birthday outfit (kids only), get happy birthday calls from the grandparents, and may or may not be allowed to break the rules like watch too much TV, stay up past bedtime, etc.

We don't do friend parties every year. Miss Monkey invited a couple of the neighbor gurls to Monkey Joe's and Dairy Queen last year for her birthday, but we didn't do that this year with her starting school. We take her to the state fair every year for her bday (her bday usually falls on or around the last weekend of it), so that's always a good time. Luckily, Mister Moose was born during a nice month, weather-wise, and on Cinco de Mayo to boot, so we'll have something fun to do like that for his bday every year.

 

[jaye]

We've never made a big deal of birthdays, may be the month of his birth....end of November. When he was little it was grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins over and that made for a full house. As he got older, dinner his choice and he would usually invite a friend over and go to the show.

 

[sakura-panda]

We have family birthday parties up through the 6th, and starting with the 7th, they get to pick an activity to do with up to four friends (because my car has room for 5 kids in the back.) At first, the parents came along and stayed for the activity, but since my oldest turned 9, his friends' parents have been glad to let me do all the driving for them. LOL

Since this outing with their friends is actually one of my birthday gifts to the kids -- rather than a party -- we don't have party things like cake, decorations or presents. (*Mostly* we don't have presents.) Instead, I pay for the activities themselves and any extras (like pizza and arcade tokens at the play place or popcorn and slushies at the movies. It still comes out to be less expensive than having a party at home!)

We make a big deal about birthdays at home, on the day of, but we're moving away from having parties (my youngest is 5, so only one more family party to go!)