For the Love of Birthdays!

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Birthdays have always been a big deal in this house. I honestly think it stems from my birthday being 8 days before Christmas and always getting the shaft. From “combined” birthday/Christmas gifts (if you have someone in your life with a December birthday, don’t do that to them. Ever.) to everyone being too busy to celebrate your special day, anyone with a birthday a couple of weeks before or after Christmas knows this pain. And it is real.

Call me selfish, I don’t care.

And because of that, I have always made sure that if you’re special and important to me (and even if you just kinda are), I make a big deal of it because let’s face it, it’s the ONE day that you get that is ALL about you. This was especially true for the girls. I wanted them to know that their birthday was all about them. Start the day with breakfast in bed of their choosing… parties in many varying capacities… telling stories about when they were born or past birthdays and so on.

There was a year not too long ago when I had something going on the day of one of their birthdays and wasn’t able to give that kind of attention and they were (understandably) upset. I remember saying in exasperation to the Bestie “WHAT is the big deal?! It’s not like I have any control over this conflict!” And being the Bestie that she is, she looked me dead in the eye and said: “Because you’ve always made it a huge deal and that’s their tradition.”

Bestie: 1, Kristen: 0.

Now that my girls are older, their expectations are a little less robust.They still want all the attention but the need for parties has dwindled but I remember them so fondly and part of me misses them. There’s just something about their sweet, innocent faces being lit up with joy and excitement – melts the hardest and coldest of hearts. But it’s not always an easy task and those parties take a lot of time and planning and stress. Oh, the stress…

 

 

As parents, we’re always looking for ways to make their day unique and Netflix has recently launched a whole station of on-demand birthday featurettes which star the characters in your kids’ favorite shows such as Beat Bugs, Barbie, and Pokemon – your kids will be SO excited because it seems like they’re singing just for them! Check out this little sneak peek from Netflix and for a link to all the featurettes, click here! 

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I love these… it’s like when you order a Santa-gram for them at Christmas time – the innocence they have not knowing that it’s really not just for them is the best. Because to them – it’s all about them.

And that is the way that birthdays are supposed to be.

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