Less & More: The WFH Mom Edit

My oldest baby is eleven today and, y’all, how did that happen? Eleven years of being in the mom trenches? My little dino is nearly a teen? This cannot be. 

I could go on for years about how wonderful Rowan is and how lucky I am to get to know him and celebrate him. Since he is officially at an age where my behavior is embarrassing on even my most low key day, I’ll refrain from bragging about him on the internet and I’ll focus on our core birthday traditions that keep chugging year after year. 

With so many milestones recorded for social media and everyone keeping up with the Joneses, it can be too easy to get sucked into a competitive little vortex when it comes to celebrating our kids. Something so simple needs to be perfectly coordinated and social media worthy. I love to be over-the-top as much as anyone else but when my boys were little I decided birthdays should be about having a fun experience, celebrating who they are, and maybe even opening up a gift they really wanted. 

Here are some of our birthday traditions from a mom who has always been extra but wants no extra “fancy trash” in her house. 

Birthday Breakfast: If you’ve been here before you know I live for a cute meal and as my kids get older it kills me softly to not have requests for like kitty cat themed spaghetti or whatever. Birthday breakfast isn’t anything crazy, because despite their pleas I make my kids go to school on their birthdays and I need to get them out the door. The birthday kid is allowed to pick any breakfast they want. One year my oldest wanted veggies and dip with vegan nuggets and I obliged. Anything within reason is a-ok. They are also allowed to open one small gift before school – usually craft supplies or baseball cards. Just something to kick the day off on a special note. 

Lunch Delivery: Since my oldest was in kindergarten we’ve held a tradition of birthday lunch delivery! As kiddos who were entering school during COVID times I couldn’t do that thing you hear about where parents get to eat lunch with their kid at school on their birthday (I am jealous if you got to) but I had them pick a lunch from any local place and I will deliver it piping hot for them. Who doesn’t love a cheese curd from Culver’s in the middle of the school day??

The Yearly Letter: Something that is special to me but will probably not resonate with my kids until they are older? The yearly letter. I write about some memories from the year, what they are like, what I love about them, exciting things that happened. They can read it on their own or pop it straight into their memory box. I make a little collage of photos from the year and include it with the letter so when they are moldy oldy they can be like, “So glad my mom took a picture of me with underwear on my head and wrote about how I loved singing a song about barf.”

An Experience: Listen, I LOVE to throw a themed party and until about second grade my oldest always had really themed out celebrations where we invited family and his entire class. As my kids have gotten older we’ve prioritized giving them an experience for their birthday party with a little group of friends. Maybe it is a day at Haunted Trails, maybe it is go kart racing, maybe it is laser tag. My kids get to pick something (as long as it isn’t the cost of a mortgage payment because my gosh, things are crazy out there) and go DO the things. 

The Sibling Gift: One of my favorite parts of each kid’s birthday is seeing what the other kid will pick out for them. Since they were toddlers we have one gift be something picked out by their sibling and the results are really cute. One year my oldest got my youngest a sweatshirt covered in bears playing guitars because, “he will just love dis!” One year my youngest got my oldest a Lego set he had wanted forever because he knew it would mean a lot to his brother. It encourages them to pick out a great gift and it is special to hear why they picked it out  

Ultimately I think we have to celebrate our kids, and ourselves!, however feels right and authentic. You love making a big balloon arch with number shaped balloons? Do it! You want to stick a candle into a store bought muffin? Do that! Just do it for you and your kiddo and not for the likes on the internet.

Do you have any fun birthday traditions in your house?