mommyoffive Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 Has anyone had a child or family member have a birthday during this pandemic time? If so how did you make it special? We have had one so far and it was depressing, because it was right when we went into lock down and were not used to it. So we are celebrating it again. Plus we have 3 birthdays in April and an anniversary. Quote
cjzimmer1 Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) We have one coming up next week. We've always done special homemade food of the birthday person's choice. This year we are planning on getting chick fil a. We haven't done any take out food since this started so that alone will make it special because we rarely eat out even during normal times. But that's all we have planned. Birthdays are very low key here. As an introvert, I've never been remotely interested is making big plans/parties for any event so my kids are used to this. Edited April 1, 2020 by cjzimmer1 Quote
regentrude Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 Yes. My DS had his 21st birthday. Normally, we would have driven to visit him and taken him out to dinner. This year, all we got to do was a phone call, not even a hug. It was hard. 3 Quote
Sherry in OH Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 The birthday child chose the dinner menu and type of cake he desired. He received a gift on the more expensive side of normal. The more expensive gift was in lieu of selecting an outing (and dinner at a restaurant of the celebrant's choice). Extended family sent cards and/or called to wish him a happy birthday. My birthday child chose Norwegian Heaven cake. Our homemade version wasn't as pretty as Whole Food's, but it was tasty. The canceling of our spring break plans caused much more distress than a low-key homemade birthday. Quote
Soror Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 DD1 has her 13th in a couple of weeks. She had wanted a sleepover but that will be deferred. As always she will be picking what we eat that day. She's making her own cake because she likes to bake. We'll aim to go kayaking that day since that is something we can do and she has been wanting to do, maybe rent a movie for the evening or let her pick a game to play. Quote
Mommyof1 Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 DH had a bday last week. He had to work. We made his favorite cake and ordered dinner from his favorite restaurant. Quote
Laura Corin Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) My birthday was last week. I made the cake (we normally buy from a good local baker) and we celebrated with my eldest on Skype. I enjoyed my day of cake, presents, time to read and a good walk. Husband made a good dinner and I had a gin and tonic. Edited April 1, 2020 by Laura Corin 2 Quote
Matryoshka Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 Just dh. I made him a cake. I narrowly missed it myself - my birthday was in Feb. The kids aren't till June and Dec. Quote
brehon Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 Eldest dd will turn 17 in April. She’ll pick what she wants for her birthday dinner and I’ll bake a cake. I’m not sure what we’ll do for a present for her. Hmmm...probably should start thinking about that. Quote
MrsMommy Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 We've had two so far, and a third is coming up soon. They really weren't too bad, although my youngest was very disappointed that Grandma and Grandpa couldn't visit. I made the days special in the ways I usually do...made the dinner they requested, made a cake according to their specifications, did the things they wanted to do (just stuff that could be done indoors this time, though). They were still fun days, just a little different. Quote
fairfarmhand Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 My daughter is turning 15 on Saturday. She’s disappointed. Generally she and her friends have a camp out. Quote
JustEm Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 dd's bday present from her grandfather was a trip to nyc with him, his husband, and her cousin. That was suppose to in the middle of March. She was devastated, Now her actual bday is the beginning of May and I'm so fearful that she is going to be disappointed again when we can't do anything special for it. So, I'm reading this thread for ideas. Quote
Storygirl Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) We have a lot of family birthdays in March and April -- me, DS15, my sister, MIL, FIL, and nephew. We were planning to do our normal spring birthday celebration with DH's extended family on Easter, but that will be postponed indefinitely. I'm going to suggest that we all have a Zoom gathering that afternoon. I'm just thinking this through right now. I've been trying to limit our online purchases, because I don't want to add to the dangers that the warehouse and delivery people are operating under. But I might ask our extended family if we want to order each other wrapped gifts from Amazon and then open them together over Zoom, instead of waiting for a time when we can gather, since we don't know what that will be. We managed to celebrate my birthday in mid-March, right before things shut down. For DS15's birthday in two weeks, we will do what we can to make it as normal as possible. He can choose a favorite meal for me to make for him (we usually offer that or going out as a choice, but going out will not be an option this time), and I'll make him a cake. I suppose I could order a cake to support a local bakery, instead. DS15 is a serious drummer and needs a new drum set (he only has an old beat up hand-me-down set). Although it's a big expense, we might decide to spring for it, in order to support our local music store. We will also order him some other small gifts from Amazon. I will try to get all of our ideas together before ordering, so that they can all be shipped in one box, reducing the impact on the delivery drivers and warehouse workers. Or I could make one trip to Target, though I prefer to avoid in-person shopping as much as possible. My kids normally don't have parties that they invite their friends to, so we don't have to worry about things being different in that regard. MIL's birthday is on Easter this year. She has some dementia and is more likely to be unsettled or anxious about things than she used to be. I'm worried about how she will take it that she won't get to see her family on her birthday. My SIL lives near her parents and is still seeing them in person (SIL lives alone), so I'm sure she will spend that day with MIL and FIL, but it won't be the same. Edited April 1, 2020 by Storygirl Quote
Loowit Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 My SIL's birthday was last week. Typically we will meet up for coffee and visiting for birthdays for my mom, sister, and sister-in-law, but this year I just sent a card. I really missed getting together because we don't get to visit that much anymore. My birthday and 24th wedding anniversary are later this month, and I doubt things will be back to normal so we can go out to celebrate. I am sure DH and the kids will come up with something fun to do at home. It will be sad not to see my parents though. I am really missing them. Quote
mom2scouts Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 My young adult son had a birthday. He had tickets to a professional sporting event that didn't happen. I called him to talk and wish him a happy birthday, but I can't say I made it special. Quote
BlsdMama Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 Cate turned 7 on the 30th. We don’t do parties. She picked her meal, cake, ice cream. Her gift came from Amazon. It was our normal. My oldest daughter and grandson will have a birthday in the next two weeks. That will stink because we can’t see them. 😞 Quote
Bambam Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 One of our friend's kid has a birthday this weekend. She has requested people to just drive by in a 15 minute section of time and wave! We will be participating. I told her we would be the masked train robbers in our car. 1 1 Quote
purpleowl Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 DS will be 6 on Saturday. I posted before about how bummed I was at having to tell him he wouldn't have a party, because he's been planning it for months. He is okay with that now. We asked him a couple days ago, what do you want to do for your birthday that doesn't involve going anywhere or seeing anyone? 😄 He said he wants to watch a new movie, with popcorn and candy. The kids haven't seen Cars yet, so that's the plan. I also pre-ordered a cake (curbside pickup at a local bakery) and a balloon (grocery store, where I would be going that day anyway). I think he will feel special and celebrated. 1 Quote
wendyroo Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 My oldest turned 11 a couple days ago. The night before we put the younger kids to bed and he got to stay up and watch a new Monty Python movie that we purchased digitally. On his actual birthday, he had a virtual skype party with my parents. He chose spaghetti, so we all ate that "together" and then he opened his presents (purchased on Amazon). Then we had cake (which I had made to his specifications) and ice cream. Really, not very different from the usual fare, though he was disappointed that Nana and Papa could not come to the party in person. 1 Quote
Murphy101 Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 One of my kids so far. Likely 2 more before it’s done. Parental failure so far. We are choosing to laugh about my incompetence. Quote
mathnerd Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 My son had a birthday a few days ago. We are in total lockdown, meaning I am not going anywhere for a few weeks because I live in the epicenter of this outbreak. I baked a cake (thank goodness I had all the supplies), I ordered a present of his choice on amazon and we left the present in the garage in its original box for a few days before handling it, so it still sits there unopened, but he knows that his gift is ready. So, that is all there was to it. Son understands, he did not want to eat takeout, so I made his dinner of choice, he got to watch his favorite animation movie on netflix, he did not even want to step out for a walk because of how many local cases are there and I promised him some fun times when this whole mess is over sometime. 1 Quote
maize Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 Our tradition is that the birthday child gets a date with whichever parent they choose, either a dinner out at their restaurant of choice or some other activity--they've chosen things like a trip to the aquarium or a trampoline park before. I figure I could let them choose take out dinner for the family, plus they still get their special date whenever things get back to something like normal. We usually do homemade cake so that won't change. We've never done big parties. Quote
TABmom Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 My 5 year old will turn 6 this month. We’ll have cake and presents at home and FaceTime with friends and grandparents. He had a friend with a birthday a couple days ago and we FaceTimed with the friend (soo cute- both boys were running around the house showing each other hot wheels and giggling uncontrollably) He’ll be sad that there is no party, but it is what it is. We might go a little overboard in presents to make up for it a bit. Quote
AFwife Claire Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 Our oldest daughter turned 14 Saturday. Her sisters and I were supposed to be in VA, visiting friends from when we lived there, and going to a bridal shower for my soon-to-be daughter-in-law. We were all so sad that weekend didn't happen. Instead we made homemade doughnuts (a first for us, but it was really fun and took up a lot of time, with the glazing and everything), which was special. She picked her birthday dinner, and we made these strawberry tart things, since she doesn't love cake. Then we did a zoom meeting with her grandparents while she opened presents. They had dropped theirs off earlier. Fortunately I had already ordered the presents off Amazon because I had a present idea early and just acted on it! Usually I am rushing around on a time crunch, and that wouldn't have been an option this year. I got her a crepe pan and crepe tools, which she loved. She's already made crepes twice, and the tools make it a lot easier than it used to be for her! It wasn't the birthday she wanted, but it was okay. DS#5 is turned 9 next week (super excited, and we weren't planning anything big anyway). He'll pick food, pick his cake design, and open presents on zoom with grandparents as well. My dad's birthday is April 29, and I'm sad we won't get to do anything special with them. Another daughter turns 13 May 1, my husband's birthday is May 2, and we have 2 more birthdays in June. The way sadder thing is that our oldest son and his fiancee just canceled their wedding ceremony/reception scheduled for May 23. They will get married in VA sometime in April, and I guess we'll facetime it. I can hardly think about this. 😢 If there could possibly be a date in June or July, if things get lifted, where they could have a bigger ceremony with family, then they would do that, but they leave July 31 to drive to CA for their first duty assignment (he is graduating and commissioning in May), so it seems unlikely. It's all been pretty devastating, and in light of that, no one has really been complaining too much about birthdays around here. 😟 1 Quote
gardenmom5 Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 my brother had his 60tth just as this was breaking. I didn't go, and neither did my sister (her dd demanded she stay home.) my anniversary is next week . . . Quote
catz Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) It's my spouse's birthday today! Homemade cupcakes, homemade pizza,1 present, a sign he woke up to find in his make shift office. That's about it. Sigh. Edited April 1, 2020 by FuzzyCatz Quote
vonfirmath Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 4 hours ago, mommyoffive said: Has anyone had a child or family member have a birthday during this pandemic time? If so how did you make it special? We have had one so far and it was depressing, because it was right when we went into lock down and were not used to it. So we are celebrating it again. Plus we have 3 birthdays in April and an anniversary. My husband and i had our anniversary on March 20 and we just agreed to not do anything other than tell each other Happy anniversary! We donated the money we would have spent on eating out to a friend who just started a restaurant but is too far away for us to eat there. My mother's birthday was March 31 and they got a meal take out and took it home I am preparing for celebrating easter at home and making it special. Quote
vonfirmath Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 3 hours ago, hjffkj said: dd's bday present from her grandfather was a trip to nyc with him, his husband, and her cousin. That was suppose to in the middle of March. She was devastated, Now her actual bday is the beginning of May and I'm so fearful that she is going to be disappointed again when we can't do anything special for it. So, I'm reading this thread for ideas. I'm glad she didn't go. The first coronavirus case in the local area that was not a medical transplant from elsewhere was the president of the University's wife -- they went to New York City over spring break (so mid-March) Quote
May Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 DH and I both have March birthdays, the 22nd and the 31st respectively. DH wanted grilled ribs, which I made, I picked up a few sides and a chocolate cake. We ordered Italian takeout for my birthday, picked up curbside. I made a fruit cobbler for my birthday dessert. Usually, we go out for a birthday dinner, alternating the date each year. We haven’t exchanged gifts for many years. This year we were planning on going to San Diego to see our DD and SIL. I canceled that trip last week and still feel sad😢I want to reschedule but DH wants to wait. Quote
MysteryJen Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 I missed all the festivities and trips planned for my 50th. My dd will probably miss all the fun planned for her 18th at the end of April. I hadn't planned anything for my birthday since I turned 40, so this was really disappointing. And for dd2, missing out on the things planned for her 18th is just another thing lost this spring, sports, prom, graduation, etc. 1 Quote
Emba Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 My nephew (12) had a birthday. Couldn’t have s party. First birthday of his we’ve missed, ever. We sent a gift via Amazon. Kids FaceTimed him and also recorded a video of themselves singing happy birthday while DD accompanied on guitar. Quote
rocassie Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 Both DH and I. For DH we got to celebrate as we normally do. He got the treat of his choice, I made his dinner choice, and we took a nature hike at a local park. All my plans got canceled for my birthday. I treated as any other normal day, and maybe I'll be able to do my plans at a later date. Quote
barnwife Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 We are boring birthday people. The birthday person gets to choose dinner and we make a cake. Oddly, my kids like to help make and decorate their cakes. I am not sure why choosing their birthday dinner is a big deal - I am constantly asking for suggestions for dinner! Oh, I also decorate our kitchen. We use a tablecloth for the day and hang a happy birthday banner. For the kids' birthdays, I blow up some balloons. This is one thing that wouldn't change based on quarantine/stay-at-home orders. (Unless we couldn't get ingredients for the dinner/dessert, I suppose. Then we'd let them do that at a later date.) Quote
JustEm Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 1 hour ago, vonfirmath said: I'm glad she didn't go. The first coronavirus case in the local area that was not a medical transplant from elsewhere was the president of the University's wife -- they went to New York City over spring break (so mid-March) Oh, I'm so glad she didn't go either. But it was still crushing for her 9 year old self 1 Quote
edelweiss Posted April 1, 2020 Posted April 1, 2020 My younger daughter's birthday is next week. We usually take a trip for her birthday. I have ordered her several gifts and will decorate the breakfast room to make it festive. 🙂 I plan to make her some type of dessert and let her pick a favorite meal. She is disappointed, but I did tell her that when she looks back on her life, this is one birthday she will likely remember. I can't recall a lot of my birthdays, but I am sure that she will always remember that birthday that she had in quarantine! 1 Quote
importswim Posted April 2, 2020 Posted April 2, 2020 My DS turned 15 and I challenged his friends (who are in various families who we are also friends with) to send us a video of them wishing him happy birthday. I told them I'd give extra points for creativity. I have very competitive friends! LOL! I just put it out there for whomever would be willing and I was surprised at the response I got. One friend actually thanked me for giving them something to focus on and work together towards! His/our friends really showed up for him with the videos and he was so happy. It really made it special that some put lots of time into their greetings (of course, we got a couple of just "happy birthday"'s but he loved even that. 1 Quote
TrixieB Posted April 2, 2020 Posted April 2, 2020 Yes. One of my kids made me a special lunch to take to work. The other kid made dinner and dessert. Friends and family texted & emailed me. I got a couple of cards in the mail. Starbucks gave me a free drink. It was actually a better birthday than usual, plus no stress from a celebration with the extended family (which is the "normal" way of celebrating). 1 Quote
theelfqueen Posted April 2, 2020 Posted April 2, 2020 My middle son turned 19 on Saturday. We had his favorite breakfast and he opened gifts (already had them) in the morning. We rented one of the theater release movies to watch together and ordered delivery from his favorite wing place. I made him a cake. 5 Quote
kiwik Posted April 2, 2020 Posted April 2, 2020 My oldest turned 13. He always has fish and chips for his birthday but of course all food places are closed. I bought him a couple of presents the day before we went to fulll lockdown and I had one plus I got chocolate. We made cake and fudge and be had sausages and oven chips for the. 1 Quote
kiwik Posted April 2, 2020 Posted April 2, 2020 10 hours ago, May said: DH and I both have March birthdays, the 22nd and the 31st respectively. DH wanted grilled ribs, which I made, I picked up a few sides and a chocolate cake. We ordered Italian takeout for my birthday, picked up curbside. I made a fruit cobbler for my birthday dessert. Usually, we go out for a birthday dinner, alternating the date each year. We haven’t exchanged gifts for many years. This year we were planning on going to San Diego to see our DD and SIL. I canceled that trip last week and still feel sad😢I want to reschedule but DH wants to wait. We haven't had any eat in places since we went to stage 3 Mon 23rd. All of the take away places have been closed since midnight 25th Quote
ElizabethB Posted April 2, 2020 Posted April 2, 2020 (edited) Yes, my oldest. She had planned a small party with a few friends; one has the same birthday but is a year older. They all ordered pizza separately and ate it together and chatted on discord. Grandparents came over and stayed 10 feet away outside and dropped off gifts. I bought llama cupcakes, individually wrapped, and put them out on the porch for friends and grandparents to eat--I dumped them out, so no one touched them. https://www.amazon.com/Hostess-LLAMA-Snack-Cupcakes-Cakes/dp/B084NV9DDB/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=llama+cupcakes&qid=1585805836&sr=8-10 (This is what they look like, they are cheaper at Walmart.) She was a good sport about it. Edited April 2, 2020 by ElizabethB 1 Quote
SounderChick Posted April 2, 2020 Posted April 2, 2020 We don't have any birthdays in the family but several friends do for the kids we have been sending a treat using door dash. Quote
easypeasy Posted April 2, 2020 Posted April 2, 2020 We have had two and another one a few days from now. It's exhausting, tbh. lol We haven't ordered any pick-up food just yet. We're waiting until we are absolutely loathing every homemade item in sight before going that route. So - it'll be food (whatever I happen to make that day... I hate cooking so the birthday person is just gonna have to deal. I do try to make their favorites, but...) and we'll bake a cake or brownies or whatever. The first person's birthday was almost normal because I'd already been out shopping for them. The next one had a few gifts and a lot of promises "We'll go out shopping when we are allowed to step outside our door and see other human beings again." This next one is screwed. 😀 I'll just say, "whatever you want after the plague has left the planet, okay?" or throw money at them. I would order online, but I'm conflicted about that. On one hand, it's helping the economy... but I wouldn't be ordering from a small, local company, so is it really? But on the other hand, I feel awful when Target/WalMart runners bring my order out with anything that wasn't absolutely non-essential. And, of course, I don't usually do birthday shopping for my crew at WalMart or Target anyway, so the places I'd usually shop are all closed up right now unless I order online... but then I worry about the working conditions of the people putting my non-essential order together! SO CONFLICTED!!! 🤪 My birthday will be the fourth one. lol If we are still quarantined (gods, I hope not), I'll tell my entire family to just ignore it and move on. It's just too much work. (my kids are all pretty much adults. If they were still little, I'd put a LOT more effort into the whole birthday celebration thing) Quote
J-rap Posted April 2, 2020 Posted April 2, 2020 Mine was a couple days ago. We ordered brunch delivered from a local restaurant, and then Zoomed with all of our kids at once, across the country and world. That was fun. Later in the day, I Zoomed with my dad, sister, several nieces and nephews, etc., all at once. (There were 12 Zoom squares.) They all sang happy birthday to me (super funny!) and my sister had a candle that she blew out for me at the end. 🙂 My mother's birthday is next week. She'll be 92! My sister and father and I plan to stand (6 feet apart from each other, of course) outside her window at the long-term-care center she's in, and sing to her. My mother is very confused and doesn't understand what's going, but she'll recognize us and I know it will bring a smile to her face. 1 Quote
Ausmumof3 Posted April 2, 2020 Posted April 2, 2020 My dds is coming up. something goes wrong or we go away on her birthday every year poor kid. She really wanted a big party this year. But we can do it later I guess. Quote
Elizabeth86 Posted April 2, 2020 Posted April 2, 2020 Well the baby turned 2 right as all this started to go down. Child 2 and 4 have close March birthdays so they have a joint party usually in between, but luckily due to dh work schedule it came early this year. So we had the party on March 1st. We always do something on the actual birthday too which we missed. She didn't care because she is 2, but the other kiss were bummed out, they were looking forward to Sweet frog and an indoor play place. We told them we'd do it as soon as this is all over. We just had cake for her and she got a new radio flyer wagon that they have all had a fun time with. I'm glad it only affects the 2 year old, she doesn't care. We already got March birthdays out of the way, no more until fall. 1 Quote
Lawana Posted April 2, 2020 Posted April 2, 2020 Ds turned 21 and my mother turned 85 yesterday. Absent COVID19, ds would have been at college partying with friends. As it was, I had a delightful dinner with my mother and ds. I gave ds the AirPods I had told him I was not going to do, so he was thrilled with that. Quote
mommyoffive Posted April 2, 2020 Author Posted April 2, 2020 I was thinking of having a party on zoom for one of the kiddos. I wish I would have done it for the other one, but that happened right as everything was closing down. I was thinking of inviting their friends for a cake cutting, singing, and then just talking for a bit of a party. As good as it gets I suppose. We normally do the birthday kid picks take out and a cake and that is about it. I am getting presents for the kids this year. We never do that. Quote
Momto6inIN Posted April 2, 2020 Posted April 2, 2020 All of our bdays except DH are from mid March to mid May, so it's "birthday season" around here 🙂 We usually don't have a big to do for bdays, so this year is about the same as usual. They get to pick what we have for supper and I make them a cake (the younger ones who are still into that can pick a shaped cake if they want) and they get a gift and we sing happy birthday to them around the table. It's simple but fun and special. Both of our parents live in a different state so it's always just our immediate family for bdays anyway, so that's nothing different. The only hiccup was getting gifts delivered in time for the actual day of their bday - I can't count on prime like I used to so I've been having to think and order ahead. For my bday they're going to order takeout so I don't have to cook. Quote
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