Alicia64 Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Hi Everyone, I thought if anyone would know it would be this board. My twins' tenth birthday was last Sat. Their actual birthday is this week. Any suggestions for making it a special day other than making another cake? They're begging for the day off from school. My first reaction is no, but the more I think about it: that's what's cool about homeschooling. You can mix and match as needed. Any ideas appreciated! Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Definitely the day off school! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plink Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Museum day! ~ Add in some ice cream and you are suddenly Super Mom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moxie Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Honestly, I don't. All our family is out of town so your "birthday" is whatever weekend Grandma can come visit. That day is awesome with pretty much everything you want! But you only get one day! I have 5 kids; we'd be partying all the time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bug's Mom Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Definitely no school! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Birthday children rule the day! Wear a crown, we do what they want, and they get to pick all three meals and cake. It's not about THEM (gimme gimme), it's about how happy we are that they are in our lives. Just a little adjustment. for the cake, the twins always give me a hard time, one wants chocolate, one vanilla...so it's about being able to accommodate both. It's the day they aren't a unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena1277 Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 My dd has a birthday very near Christmas, so we always have to do a party early before all her friends head out of town. We have a tradition that on your actual birthday you get to choose what is for supper. Reasonable requests for actual dinner foods, not junk food. I also save a gift or 2 to open that day. Usually something from us or out of town family that was not at her party. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 On our kids actual birthdays, I decorate the table in a theme they love while they are still asleep. I usually hang streamers and have a balloon tied to their chair too. It's our tradition that we have mini donuts on each kids birthday for breakfast. I also save their gift for that morning instead of their party day. Definitely no school... Sometimes we go do something that the birthday kid chooses. They pick dinner too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowing Brook Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 How about making them their favorite breakfast. In bed if it would be special to them. Then taking them someplace they have never been that they would love to go to. Maybe don't tell them where they are going just surprise them. Or maybe a scavenger hunt with the final clue telling them where you are taking them. Definitely a day off school. One of the perks of homeschooling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 We take the day off from lessons. The birthday person gets to pick all the meals for that day including dessert. We use a special festive table cloth only on birthdays. My dh gets up early and ties balloons to the birthday kid's chair (where we eat our meals) with the amount of balloons equaling the kid's age. The birthday person gets to pick an activity (zoo, camping, fishing, biking, amusement park, etc) they would like to do. We do this instead of birthday parties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilaclady Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 On their actual birthdays, my kids get breakfast in bed, no school, they may get to pick an activity but if we've had a party and spent a bit, it better be a free activity and we usually go out for dinner at a reasonable place that they pick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 I have one in ps and one at home, so there is no day off from school just because it's your birthday. It is a special day, though, and they get to pick the menu for the day. It usually includes dinner out to their favorite place along with their favorite dessert at home. We usually do a movie night as well and birthday kid gets to pick what we watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 My kids are the luckiest kids ever! They get the entire week off of school for their birthdays! One is in February and one in May. We don't do spring break, so these are natural break times for us anyway. And we're all ready for a little time off. I usually try at least one fun activity for the week. In the past, we've gone to the zoo, bowling, movies. They get to pick what they want for dinner on their actual birthdays. My oldest will have one more year at home with me. Then he will do distance learning through the school district. He will follow a regular school year. The first thing he asked is whether he will still get his birthday week off. Um. No. He was so bummed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSOchristie Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 On our kids actual birthdays, I decorate the table in a theme they love while they are still asleep. I usually hang streamers and have a balloon tied to their chair too. It's our tradition that we have mini donuts on each kids birthday for breakfast. I also save their gift for that morning instead of their party day. Definitely no school... Sometimes we go do something that the birthday kid chooses. They pick dinner too! This is exactly what we do. They pick the foods, activities, and treats on their actual day. We give our gifts and sibling gifts. I decorate their door and the kitchen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambam Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 I've never let my kids have their birthday off from school. I think that sets them up for unrealistic expectations in life that their birthdays will *always* be special. If you get a job, you work unless you are willing and able to sacrifice a vacation day. However, we have a "birthday week" at our house. The birthday person gets to select the menu for the entire week. It can't be eating out every day or anything like that though! But if we do eat out, the birthday person gets to pick the restaurant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessReplanted Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 We take the day off from school, try to do something fun, and celebrate with cake and ice cream (again) on the actual birthday. I also save family presents until that evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raceNzanesmom Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Our youngest ds's birthday was yesterday. :) Our kids get to pick all meals on their birthdays, no school, only most basic chores, and we still do cake/ic even when we already had it at the party. I also like to do things like hang a birthday sign on their door, put balloons on the table, etc, anything to show them they're special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elinor Everywhere Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 I've always let the kids have their birthday off from school. After all, that's an advantage of homeschooling! They've had no problem with transitioning into school and realizing they can't have their birthday off anymore. And actually, my dd doesn't want to, because she wants to celebrate at school with her friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rjmakmom Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 I have 5 kids and a dh who works nights and sleeps days, so in our house 1 on 1 time with both parents is not an every day occurrence. My dh and I take only the birthday child out for lunch, at a restaurant of their choosing, while the other 4 are home doing school. And the bday kid gets to choose what's for dinner...plus even if their was a family/friends party the weekend before or not, there is ALWAYS a cake on the actual day of their birthday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Wow! You guys are awesome. DD2's bd was today and her family party's not till tomorrow, but I did sing "Happy Birthday" to her when she got up and we had Taco Bell for lunch after co-op. That's about all I can manage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 B-day here- You don't have to do your chores You pick dinner Often a special trip we don't do like bfst out, fast food, movie, zoo, swimming, bowling. My ds chose pizza and ice cream cake and a day of gaming ( he usually gets only an hour). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Hi Everyone, I thought if anyone would know it would be this board. My twins' tenth birthday was last Sat. Their actual birthday is this week. Any suggestions for making it a special day other than making another cake? They're begging for the day off from school. My first reaction is no, but the more I think about it: that's what's cool about homeschooling. You can mix and match as needed. Any ideas appreciated! Alley We do take the day off school. Then they choose what we have for dinner. Family presents are opened on the actual birthday. Sometimes dh will stay home and make breakfast for everyone. And yes, another cake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Wow! You guys are awesome. DD2's bd was today and her family party's not till tomorrow, but I did sing "Happy Birthday" to her when she got up and we had Taco Bell for lunch after co-op. That's about all I can manage. Well, when they are that young, they don't know any different, so that approach makes sense and it's what I used to do. Ever since they were old enough to really be aware that it was their actual birthday, I've tried very hard to have their party on the actual day. As a homeschooler, I was probably able to pull hat off longer than I would have been able to otherwise. This last year, it wasn't possible with my dd, so I asked my mom if she would like to take my dd clothes shopping as her b-day gift (my mom always asks for ideas). We went to a tea house for lunch and then took dd shopping. It was a fun day. I may try to replicate that again this year. For my son, I used to always make one of his b-day gifts a gift card to the Lego store and I'd take him to lunch and then we'd spend the gift card on his actual birthday. I can't remember what we did this last year since he'd outgrown legos?! I do remember that I made the party after the actual day so that he knew he had that to look forward to. We never do school on birthdays, though this last year we did have a coop class I didn't feel we could miss on the morning of my dd's b-day. I only have 2 kids though, so that makes it easier for me. I have often joked that I didn't have any more kids because I couldn't handle having to throw another birthday party, LOL. ETA: Oh, and we save our gifts for the kids for their actual birthday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samiam Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Birthday means birthday adventure here! Going to some fun activity. For Ds10 day, we spent the night at a hotel in Gatlinburg, went to Ripleys Aquarium, ate at his favorite restaurant, and then did a drive thru Safari. For DS7, we had to stay local as we had a new puppy so needed to be able to come home and let her out, but we went to a fun park, ie video games, go carts, etc, the lunch at his favorite place, the a movie, the out to eat ice cream then cosmic bowling. They usually get the day off from school of course, but since both landed on a Saturday here, we gave them Monday off school. DH takes the day off work if needed for birthdays. No worries about unreasonable adult expectations because of childhood celebrations, that's silly....as a adult we can all agree we can understand that life is a bit different than when we were children. I mean, most adults don't expect to have summers off either. Frankly, as an adult, I could care less about celebrating my birthday at all. I think my children will be reasonable adults even though we make their birthdays super duper fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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