kid-focused birthdays

We could call this post "blurry photo alert!" because if kid birthdays are nothing else, they are often a flurry of movement that can be almost impossible to capture without an expensive camera, of which I am currently deprived.

But I've been thinking a lot lately about how we do birthdays, and since my poor little Jeremiah didn't get to enjoy a blog post when he turned five three days before Christmas (come to think of it, I don't think that I have ever blogged about his birthday), I thought that he deserved an honourable mention. By the time I had four kids, I learned a little about setting priorities. Home-made cakes (with butter and icing sugar frosting) have always been something that I've wanted to be part of my kids' childhood, but letting them be involved in how we celebrate their birthdays is really important to us as well. The last few years have involved a lot of scenes like this one pictured above. Do you see the five made out of blueberries? Look closely? This particular cake was basically a large blueberry muffin (he requested a blueberry cake) baked in a pie pan. So easy since I didn't even have to remove the cake from the pan to serve it. Yes, that is partially melted icing on the cake (we were in a hurry to get it decorated and it hadn't quite cooled yet). And the second one? That was for Christmas morning brunch. Ha, ha. Aren't I clever, multi-tasking like that?

Last year I made it my goal to hand stitch wool felt crowns for all the children. They got to request the colours and I was able to make one for each of them by their birthdays. They wear them on their baptismal days, on their saint's feast days and just for general dress up fun. Those are swords needle-felted on the side, since my little man loves to be a knight.

Before the candles are blown out, we sing "May the good Lord bless you!" to the tune of the Happy Birthday song. I always hope that this teaches the children to bless one another on their birthdays and rejoice in their lives together.

Another blurry photo, sorry! His one and only mama and papa gift. We keep our gifts simple in our family. These Schleich knights are just wonderful...very solid and a little more able to played with anywhere than the playmobil knights that can get stepped on underfoot when left lying around (not that this has ever happened in our home...).

The kids always enjoy creating home-made gifts for one another. This year Thomas made a paper tic-tac-toe game for Jeremiah, complete with a pocket on the back to hold the pieces. I helped him of course, but his little labour of love was so sweet to watch. And the boys do love to play...

My favorite part about birthdays. For the most part, we haven't dealt with too much jealousy around these celebrations. The kids seem to receive each other with joy and the thought of eating cake, even if it isn't their own cake, seems to diminish all the present envy. There is, however, usually one kid reminding the birthday child that the gifts are to be "shared." That sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Maybe that's the motivation behind the homemade game gifts...

How does your family celebrate birthdays?