If you have a summer birthday, you know.
July is vacation season. Family reunion season. BBQ season. Every weekend seems to belong to someone else's plans.
And if you're a parent of a summer birthday kid? You know how hard it can be.
My daughter loves birthdays. She loves parties. She loves decorations, candles, surprises, and making people feel celebrated. She watches her friends have birthdays during the school year, when everyone is home and looking for something fun to do.
But summer is different.
People are camping. They're traveling. They're at the lake. They're visiting family.
I can't make everyone available on one weekend afternoon.
And after a while, I realized something.
I was spending so much energy trying to fix the one thing I couldn't control that I wasn't putting enough energy into the things I could.
So we started celebrating Birthday Month.
Not with expensive outings or Pinterest-worthy activities.
Just little moments that say, "Today is special because you're special."
Pancakes with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles on a Tuesday morning.
A picnic dinner at the park instead of the kitchen table.
A trip to the splash pad.
Glitter in her hair.
Beach adventure.
Freshly painted nails.
An extra bedtime story.
Library day.
Picking the music in the car.
None of these things cost much.
Some don't cost anything at all.
They're things we'd probably do eventually anyway.
But when you sprinkle in a little birthday-month magic, ordinary moments become memories.
I still wish I could guarantee a packed birthday party every year.
I can't.
But I can make sure she spends an entire month feeling celebrated instead of putting all that pressure on one afternoon.
Because birthdays aren't really about parties.
They're about making someone feel loved.
And it turns out that love shows up just as beautifully in pancakes with sprinkles as it does in a room full of balloons.
What's one little tradition that makes your kids light up? I'd love to hear it in the comments.
0 comments:
Post a Comment