OT- How do you celebrate birthdays

When young, we had birthday parties with our friends and families, as adults DH & I celebrate by going out to dinner.

Teresa in MD

Funny you should ask. I just took my youngest dd to a classmates b'day bash (the big 5). Her folks invited eight of her closest friends to Possibly Picasso. They kids had a great time painting a ceramic figurine, which will be fired later this week and delivered to the daycare. Other little girls picked the typical kitty, or puppy, or butterfly, or fairy, or turtle, or frog, or bear. My kid chose to paint a car. Hmmmm. Then there was cake and icecream, the singing of Happy Birthday, and gift opening.

That sounds like a great b-day party! Hope you took lots of pictures.

The tradition with my DS once he was 11 or so, was that I would give him enough money to take his closest friends (1 to3 depending on the year) to supper and a movie. He looked forward to it every year and since he was born on Dec 21st it made the celebration very distinct from opening Xmas presents 4 days later.

I once did a tye-die party where everyone brought with them something that was100% cotton. Had ages six to seventeen present. Most brought t-shirts. I think a couple of kids brought boxers, and/or socks. It was a lot of fun. We tied knots, used rubber bands, did folds, you name it. Everyone slept over, we had relay races, egg toss, and danced. I washed everything out the next morning. And the kids took their creations home with them.

Judy,My kids are all grown and have little ones of their own now but we always had a special birthday cake..usually from a bakery and all the close friends and family stop in for cake and ice cream and they would bring a gift. They each had two fullblown parties with all their friends and each party would have a theme. Now My grandchildren have it better.. there are so many places that arrange parties, Chuckie Cheese, theme parks, resturants, and Zoos. Everything s taken care of for a set price and the parents no longer have to have the mess and noise at home. Last year my youngest grandchild had a party on the beach. The party was in a covered area and they rented one of those moon walk things kids like and they got to be on the beach after all the cake and presents were finished. I think that cake and ice cream are still pretty much the center but each child now seems to get a little goodie bag to take home.Many youngsters have a sleep over party. Each bringing their own sleeping bag and having a lot of planned activity. It just seems to depend on how much time,patience and money one has. LOL

Hugs, Sabrina in Kentucky

a good friend is a life long treasure

In South Africa, kids up to 10 have "traditional" birthday parties. A party invite is send a week in advance in the theme of the party, if there is one. The little girls have special party dresses, and the birthday girl gets a special new outfit for the day. The party is held mostly in the afternoon after school ( we only have school up to 2 o'clock over here). Party games are played such as pin the tail to the donkey, hide and seek, a game where all the kids sit in a circle and one child walks around the circle and drop an object (hanky or something small) at the back of one kid. The kid are not allowed to look, but must feel for it. If he/she does'nt notice it befor the first kid passes again, she/he's the "rotten egg" - I don't know the English name of this game :). Winners of these games also receive a small gift.

Gifts are brought for the birthday child, but not expected and only opened after everyone has left. A birthday cake is made - usually in the shape of what the kid fancies at that time eg. ballerina for the girls or locomotive for the boys. The candles (number depending on the age of the kid) are blown out while everybody sings to the birthday child and she has to make a wish, but not tell anyone. Other special (mostly homemade) treats like cup cakes, fudge, coconut ice, biltong bites, smoothies etc are served A thank you note is send afterwards to all the guests who attended.

Older kids have theme parties like pool parties, house dances or get to invite a few friends to a special outing, like to a game park, farm day, hike etc.

Hope this helps

Hi Judy,

We live in California don't know if we'd be much help, but here goes...

I believe in the home birthday party. Homemade cake, home cooked lunch, various age appropriate games like carrying an orange between your knees and dropping it in a bowl, carrying an egg on a spoon relay, another game called

When the kids hit about 9 they wanted more of a personal celebration. My son likes to have a couple friends over for a sleep over and they battle it out on Playstation. I still make them a cake and Dogitos, the traditional birthday food here. My daughter likes to take a few friends roller skating and we return home for cake and dogitos.

Hello, I want to thank everyone who answered my question both on and off list. It seems everyone (who answered) celebrates in the same way a party with friends and family. When I scrap this page I'll definitely post it to the group, so you all can see how you helped her earn her "My Day" badge. Thank You again, Judy and Kimberley

I live in California,

Growing up the Birthday parties were usually a Mexican BBQ. Carne Asada, beans, rice, tortillas, chips, salsa, guacamole, we played pin the tail on the donkey and hit the pinata that was filled with lots of candy. After we hit the pinata and the kids filled their bags with candy we would sing Happy Birthday and at cake and ice cream. Then everyone sat down and watch the Birthday kid open the gifts.

Nowadays the parties are similar bet they always have a theme. Like Princesses or Finding Nemo...There is usually a Jumper or llamas and clowns or a character. After the breaking the pinata the kids also get a goody bag. The food is not always a BBQ anymore. Now they have TAQUEROS...It's a catering company that comes and makes tacos for everyone...usually they make the tortillas right there. It's not always Mexican food either but there is always lots of food.

Another big thing for kids parties is going to a place like Chuckie Cheeses, Peter Piper or Boomers. These are big Video Arcades and some even have rides and games. They also serve pizza.

In our culture when a girl turns 15 she has a QUINCANERA. The girl puts on this white gown like a wedding dress and she goes to church for a special service and after there is a big ball to celebrate her birthday.

---------- Diana

We have cake and ice cream and invite the family over. Since my family is 1

We usually go out to dinner with the birthday person picking the restaurant followed by cake or pie (hubbys fav) at home. We also started the "shopping spree" tradition when our daughter was in high school. Instead of gifts from us, she got a set amount of money and time (usually a couple of days before her birthday) to do the shopping. She always thought that was fun because she could buy lots of things or just one or two big things. It is also a great way for the two of us to spend some time together!

Cathy, I think that is funny. I started taking my kids when they were teens to buy whatever they wanted in the way of clothes. They loved it and I was so pleased that none of them went wild even though I didn't set a limit! My girls were the most fun. They had to model and try on everything! So I was treated to a fashion show as well.

Hugs, Sabrina in Kentucky

a good friend is a life long treasure

My daughter picks the theme of the party. Then we make the invitations in that theme. She invites boys and girls so that it is even on both sides. Normally about 10 kids. I make a cake in the theme...and put together goody bags. I tried to have planned games but that never worked, so the kids entertain themselves. Climbing our trees, or playing soccer in the back yard, or tag ect. Last year I let them each make their own mini pizzas ( on english muffins ) that was a big hit. Then everyone gathers around the table to sing happy birthday and Tori blows out the candles and we eat cake and ice cream ( not much gets eaten, everyone is eager to go back to playing ). Then I wrangle them all into the living room....and try to get the boys to sit still long enough for Tori to open their presents. Then everyone goes back to playing. Then the boys all get picked up, and the girls change in to jammies and cram into Tori's room for Barbie's and movies until they fall asleep. The next morning I make my famous ( at least with my daughter's friends...lol) waffles and everyone packs up and goes home. This is normall on the weekend...on my daughter's actual birthday the family gathers at Chucky Cheese or a similar place for a small store bought cake , pizza and presents. Then everyone plays games and when they are doen the hand the tickets they earned over to Tori and she can spend them on trinkets. It is fun :-)

Azzy

For us, it's usually just a group of people gathered for cake, ice cream & presents. I try to limit it to family & the kid's close friends. DS's 2nd birthday party was at Chuckie Cheese's, a pizza & arcade place, with family & one other family-friend. I've discovered I enjoy it more when it's at my house, though! DD's 6th b-day (this past August) was at our house, and we invited MIL, her nephew, DH's cousin & her daughter (also 6), and 3 different family friends. A heavy storm came through that day, so only one of the family friends was able to make it. (It just happened to be the boy who had a HUGE crush on DD during Kindergarten.) The lights went out before we could get the cake lit, but we had so much fun! There was 4 kids running around the house, playing together and we adults laughed watching the kids and got to actually talk. Since our two kiddos are 3 & 6 we buy presents for them. But I usually take them to the store a week or two before their birthday to find out what they want. (Doesn't mean they'll get everything they'll want! LOL)

The day of the childs birthday, we cook their favourite meal for supper. We also make sure they get their gifts from us that day. We hold a birthday party for them on the weekend either before or after, depending on our work schedule. We invite about 5 or 6 kids from school to come over. Some years, we get a DQ cake for the kids. What I've done several times is, I've baked chocolate cupcakes and white cupcakes. Each child gets one of each. Then they decorate them with the icing and cake decorations. I buy tons of different things to decorate them with. Then they put all the cupcakes on a plate on the center of the table and that's the 'birthday cake'. We usually have hotdogs, potato chips and cheezies for lunch, then DQ cake, or cupcakes and ice cream for desert. Then the kids get to open their gifts. They play a game and go home.

If our child's birthday is on a a day that is not the same day that the party is being hosted we let them choose what they want for dinner and I make their favorite homemade dessert.

On party day we typically have a group of 10 - 12 kids. We open gifts and have a store bought birthday cake. We have had parties at home, the local city swim park on the lake, Chuck-E-Cheese, an amusement park, movie theater, athletic club pool, etc..

When our daughter got old enough to understand the concept of money we started making her choose, big gift/little party or big party/little gift.

The little parties are the ones held at home where we make homemade pizza, watch movies, play games, and have a slumber party or we go to the swim park (no fees or price per person) where the kids can swim and play lawn games. Personally I have enjoyed the 'little' parties the most and think the kids have too.

Our daughter will be turning 15 this year and is planning to take the driver's exam for her learner's permit on her birthday. I can't believe she will be old enough to drive.

My son will be turning 6 in April and we are going to do a Mad Science party at home. He LOVES science.

When my son gets to the age where he will want expensive gifts we'll start making him choose big party/little gift or little party/big gift too.