There are many ways to celebrate a birthday. 

Some people like a quiet dinner gathering with family,

some maybe just cake and ice cream, and others may

have a birthday party. My mother made our birthdays

special by taking us to dinner and letting us order

whatever we wanted on the menu. That was a special

treat for us! I loved it because I would order either

crab or shrimp. Yummy! Now that I have my own

children, my husband and I still carry on the tradition

of taking our children out to eat on their birthdays.

However, we do not let them order the most

expensive meal on the menu.

     We go all out for our children on their birthdays.

The day our children were born was one of most

special times in our lives so we love to celebrate their

birthdays with a party. The parties usually have a

theme. When they were younger we would choose

the theme for them. However, now that they are older

they choose their own theme. Some of the themes

over the years have been Spiderman, Sponge Bob,

Barbie, Bratz, Tinkerbell, and many other fun

characters.

The birthday list consists of mostly family members.

There are enough cousins between the two of our

families to make a small classroom. The girls are the

majority which make it rough for the boys in the

family. As the children get older we allow them to

invite a few of their friends to celebrate with us. Two

of our three children have summer birthdays so it is

easy to send everyone outside. The other child is

born in January which makes things a little more

difficult coming away from Christmas and all.

Nonetheless, we enjoy getting together for birthday

parties.

     One summer we invited all the family and a few

friends of the children to their birthday party. We filled

up one of those kid swimming pools and set up the

slip-n-slide. All the kids played outside for a couple of

hours before we ordered pizza. The kids were

starving after playing in the water. Soon after, it was

time for cake and ice cream. I always make my

children’s cakes. In the beginning their cakes were a

simple rectangle frosted cake. That year however, I

decided to be creative and make a novelty cake.

Actually it was two novelty cakes - Spiderman and

Barbie.

We had combined the two summer birthdays. I had so

much fun decorating their cakes, it has become a

tradition.

     A party is not complete without sharing some

parting gifts. Each child will leave with a goodie bag -

nothing too fancy. The bags usually consist of the

blow horn, a balloon, and a little toy. I do not know

who started that tradition because I never went to a

party that gave away goodie bags. I look at it as a little t

hank you gift.

     At the end of the party I am absolutely exhausted

and I have a mess to clean up. Even so, I never regret

celebrating our children’s birthday with a party

because I know they will not be little forever.

Besides, who does not love a fun party with food,

family and friends, presents, cake, and of course that

everlasting song of Happy Birthday!