Friday, July 2, 2010

Birthdays Plans and Traditions

I think one of the most fun things about having kids, besides moments like yesterday morning when I walked out of my closet in a new, very colorful dress and Landon looked up from the spot on the floor where he was carefully arranging brightly colored necklaces that I picked up for $1 at Target into circles and calling them birthday cakes while singing "Happy to You" over and over, and said, "oh, mama, you're so pretty!" That's fun, but on a larger scale, I think my favorite thing is the creation of family traditions and celebrating occasions big and small.

Landon's birthday is on the 15th and he is super excited. Not about the presents- he knows what they are and knows he will get some, but there's nothing specific he wants and they're not the big draw. No, the reason he has been asking whether or not it's July since February is because of the cake and his friends. His friends will come over to our house (or indoor bounce house place, as it turns out) and they will all get to eat cake. He has his mom's sweet tooth but unlike his mama, he's almost never allowed to indulge it.

One of the birthday traditions in my family was that the birthday kid would get to pick whatever they wanted to eat for dinner. The birthday kid also got to leave their bed unmade in the morning, but it was so ingrained in us to make our beds that I don't think I ever once remembered to not make it, though I did mess mine back up a few times just because I could. This dinner that we got to select was never out at a restaurant- it wouldn't have occurred to use to ask since we never ate out (except on our 10-year "double digit" birthday when you got to go to a fancy restaurant with just mom and dad, it's a special memory), it was just your favorite recipe from mom's kitchen. For years I always picked breakfast tacos. My sister picked stir fry and my brother picked spaghetti. It wasn't about fancy, it was about your favorite thing to eat. When I asked JP about his birthday traditions he made a sour face and said he either had to eat at some fancy restaurant and sit still for three hours with his parents or he was forced to eat filet mignon stuffed with crab. Now I know, poor little rich kid who had to eat gourmet food, but he was 10 and really wanted pizza and his mom said, No, that's not special enough for a birthday, I'm buying filet. She also never threw him a birthday party because it couldn't just be simple and the thought of doing something more involved overwhelmed her to the point of inaction so it never happened. This is why we have yet to pull any traditions from JP's family. Also because they didn't have any.

So, last night I tried to ask Landon what he would like to eat on his birthday night. Cake! was the immediate response, so I spent about 10 minutes trying to explain that he will get cake but we have to eat something before the cake. Finally he agreed on Dino Chicken Nuggets, and while I am determined to not be my mother-in-law, those things look mildly repulsive to me so JP and I may eat something different. But I promise that Landon can have as many molded chicken products as he wants.

For his party we're keeping it easy and inviting his friends (daycare classmates and a few other buddies) to a nearby bounce house place. It's new, clean, and relatively undiscovered. The last time we went, for another classmate's birthday, the toddler party guests were the only ones there. I wanted to have the party at our house because I truly love hostessing things like that, and I had some fun ideas for the kids, but I decided that with a 5-week old I'd cop out and fork over some money for someone else to host it (and clean up after). I'll have more details on the party later, but basically the kids will run around and bounce and make squealing noises and then they will eat pizza, fruit, and cake. It will be two hours of toddler approved awesome, I'm sure.

16 comments:

  1. We used to do the dinner thing too! I almost always picked zucchini stuffed with tomatoes and topped with parmesean cheese. My sister always chose mac & cheese.

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  2. That sounds like a perfect party!!

    When Charlie turned two we had a one-month old and had Charlie's party at Central Market and it was lovely. My house was in NO condition for guests. :)

    I love your family's traditions growing up. We do cake for breakfast and dinner and let the kids pick dinner for their birthdays and go out for the adult birthdays. I also need to get Charlie making his bed one of these days.

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  3. Sounds like a great birthday party! I think you are very wise to outsource in this instance.

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  4. We also got to pick whatever we wanted for our birthday dinner. :) I usually wanted cinnamon chicken, my brother always wanted Bertucci's pizza (we were allowed carry-out), my other brother always wanted take-out Chinese, and my sister always wanted tacos (now, at age 15, the only dinner she knows how to make herself).

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  5. Instead of Dino Nuggets, what about a fancy dinner at McDonalds for a Nugget Happy Meal? Then, you and JP can select something different, and I'm guessing Landon will be thrilled. Especially if you choose a McD's with a playground.

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  6. landon and i have the same birthday! my family also did the pick what you want for dinner thing - although my mom always knew what we wanted so there usually was no requesting necessary. we also still wear birthday hats during the singing of happy birthday. yes, the conical type. and yes, the youngest person in our family turned 18 this year, and we still do it. yay for birthdays!

    ps, i have to disagree with your opinion of molded chicken products - i currently have a huge bag of mickey nuggets in my freezer, and they're awesome.

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  7. Haha Cathy, I'll admit that I have not tried them so I should reserve judgment- and Landon certainly loves them!

    And Becca I love the cake for breakfast idea- so fun!

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  8. OH I LOVE LOVE LOVE your traditions. It just makes family sound fun. How wonderful.

    My parents, I must admit, weren't the best for birthdays. They went to Europe for my 15th and 16th birthday. Now, a normal teenager would have thought "party time!" but I genuinely missed them (after I had thrown my party of course). So our tradition is going to be: we're NEVER out of town for a birthday. That's their day.

    Also, you get breakfast in bed. It's a must. :)

    Thanks for such an uplifting post...so cute.

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  9. I may have to take your traditions. Usually in my family we just had cake with the family. For the big bdays, 5, 10, 15, we got to have a party somewhere with friends. Love the birthday dinner and dinner out w/ parents for the big days.

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  11. Bounce house party sounds fun! I must say the bounce house was my favorite thing on the planet growing up.

    For some reason I can't remember any birthday traditions (aside from my Grandma, who gave us a giant $50 each birthday -- still to this day, no accounting for inflation or the fact that I am a lawyer) except that my mom always gave the other 2 kids one present on the birthday kid's birthday. I'm not sure why she did it, except that she didn't want the rest of us to feel left out. It was really fun, though!

    It is so interesting to hear about everyone's family traditions, and the ones they decide to carry forward. Like some other commenters, I may steal some ideas. :)

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  12. Wow, I can't believe that Landon is turning 3! Sounds like a fun birthday! My (almost) 4 year old would totally pick the same meal - well either that or Kraft Mac and cheese. The out of home party will be AWESOME and so so easy! You'll love it, as will the kiddos.

    Allison, too funny about your grandma and her consistent gifts through the years! My Grandma gave us each $100, but when we got married, then she split it in two - so I get $50, my husband gets fifty, my brother gets fifty, and my sister-in-law gets fifty!

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  13. Tradition is misspelled in the title. You can choose not to post this comment, but I just thought you would want to know :)

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  14. Ha, it's fixed now- thanks!

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  15. No, it's not!

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  16. Okay it really is now- I swear I did it before but I must not have hit publish.

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