the little things make the biggest impact

Today is turtle's birthday. We(gee, lovebug and i) woke up turtle singing happy birthday to him. Brian made him waffles with strawberries...yummy! with lots of whipped cream and we sang happy birthday again and he blew out his candle.(actually banana blew out his candle the first time so we had to relight it) Lovebug, banana and i took cupcakes to turtle at school and they sung happy birthday........AGAIN! He was able to choose the dinner menu. We ate hot dogs for dinner :) We had a small cake and cupcakes, he was able to blow out the candles again and one last singing of happy birthday. He absolutely LOVED his birthday and his face has been in a constant smile. He can get shy and it is just sooooo cute. I love that we have been able to give him such a wonderful day. At the end of this night, we were getting ready for bed and he gave brian a big hug and said thank you and then he gave me a big hug and said thank you. It was wonderful and it surprised me. I am so proud of him, it is such a grown up thing to do for a 4 year old. Something i didn't know he had in him.

We are not doing the great big birthday party like we did for gee. We have decided with 4 kids (whether or not lovebug is living with us, we will still have the opportunity to celebrate her birthday) we cannot afford to throw a big bash every year for each kid. We are going to celebrate as a family with a special day and on the 'big' birthdays we will throw a big party with everyone invited. That would be the 5th year, the 10th year, the 13th year, the 16th year and the 18th. It will make it special and it will allow me to plan a big, fun party without feeling overwhelmed.

I hope our kids will grow up and appreciate the way we celebrated their birthdays. I hope that giving them more of the attention and love through food, song and special little things will help them to appreciate the big parties they will get every few years. I hope they will learn to appreciate the simpler things in life. They will realize that the big gifts, the over-abundance of gifts, big parties full sweets, games and all the commotion that go with the parties are the exception. I don't want spoiled kids who EXPECT the big things. I want them to realize how special they are to me and that they are worth more to me than money. And by showing them love with little, simple gifts and special times, they will appreciate themselves for who they are and not by what they can give materially. That's what it is all about isn't it? Building their self esteem and helping them to realize they are important, special and amazing - no matter the amount of money they make, what kind of house they live in or kind of car they drive. I want them to learn the value of giving from the heart, not the pocketbook.

I love birthdays and the opportunity for creativity is enormous. I hope i will be able to make each of my kids feel special and loved. I hope they will love their birthdays and have wonderful memories that they will share with their own children one day.