What a day! Kaiden is turning 5 next week and so we had a birthday playdate today to celebrate with his friends.
A birthday playdate is something I actually made up this year in April for Kael when he turned 2. I looked at my little "baby" and thought... what does he really want.
I knew the answer almost immediately.... he wants to play outside, get dirty, and run. So to celebrate his birthday I thought I would actualy give him what he wants.... a birthday playdate. It is just like a playdate but with lots of kids and much different than a party because there are no gifts, cards, decorations, etc. Sounds boring right? Well, actually it was a huge success. We went to White Park, a local park. Parents loved relaxing while their little ones did their own thing, playing, getting dirty, and running, albeit, mostly by themselves.
As a parent it was great... I brought my kids, sunscreen, napkins, cups, juice/water, and chex mix. Kael loved it because he didn't have to stop playing for cake, stop getting dirty to open gifts, or stop running to engage in some planned activity. And at 2 did he really miss the traditional hoopla? No. And to make the family happy, that night we had dinner with family and some close friends and served cake and yes he did have a few gifts so my husband wasn't deprived of buying him a new toy.
OK, so this brings me back to Kaiden, my soon to be 5 year old. He for sure would miss tradition. He's been to birthday parties. He knows he is entitled to gifts, cake, and a at least some hoopla. So I asked him... "what do you want to do to celebrate your birthday?" His answer... "I want to play at White Park with my friends like Kael did". We can do that.
So we did and it was FUN!
Kaiden played straight for 2 1/2 hours with his super hero team which consisted of: Sam, Jack, Arhat, Emma, Ben, and Fiona They fought crime all over the park. And there were others that didn't seem to dig the crime scene so they did their own things with smiles too. And for my own memory others that were lying low: Paige, Maria, Cammille, Lorelei, Geetika, Lexi, and Shauna.
And to add a small memory piece to the playdate, I folded a piece of paper and wrote "Happy 5th Birthday Kaiden" and brought markers for kids to use to sign their names in it.
And just like Kael, we will have a small celebration on Wednedsay night on Kaiden's "actual birthday", as Kaiden likes to say. If you wish him a happy birthday right now, he will say that it is not his "actual birthday" and if you ask him how old he is he will still say "4 1/2".
So that was our day. Oh.... and it is my 11th anniversary today.
A birthday playdate is something I actually made up this year in April for Kael when he turned 2. I looked at my little "baby" and thought... what does he really want.
I knew the answer almost immediately.... he wants to play outside, get dirty, and run. So to celebrate his birthday I thought I would actualy give him what he wants.... a birthday playdate. It is just like a playdate but with lots of kids and much different than a party because there are no gifts, cards, decorations, etc. Sounds boring right? Well, actually it was a huge success. We went to White Park, a local park. Parents loved relaxing while their little ones did their own thing, playing, getting dirty, and running, albeit, mostly by themselves.As a parent it was great... I brought my kids, sunscreen, napkins, cups, juice/water, and chex mix. Kael loved it because he didn't have to stop playing for cake, stop getting dirty to open gifts, or stop running to engage in some planned activity. And at 2 did he really miss the traditional hoopla? No. And to make the family happy, that night we had dinner with family and some close friends and served cake and yes he did have a few gifts so my husband wasn't deprived of buying him a new toy.
OK, so this brings me back to Kaiden, my soon to be 5 year old. He for sure would miss tradition. He's been to birthday parties. He knows he is entitled to gifts, cake, and a at least some hoopla. So I asked him... "what do you want to do to celebrate your birthday?" His answer... "I want to play at White Park with my friends like Kael did". We can do that.
So we did and it was FUN!
Kaiden played straight for 2 1/2 hours with his super hero team which consisted of: Sam, Jack, Arhat, Emma, Ben, and Fiona They fought crime all over the park. And there were others that didn't seem to dig the crime scene so they did their own things with smiles too. And for my own memory others that were lying low: Paige, Maria, Cammille, Lorelei, Geetika, Lexi, and Shauna.And to add a small memory piece to the playdate, I folded a piece of paper and wrote "Happy 5th Birthday Kaiden" and brought markers for kids to use to sign their names in it.
And just like Kael, we will have a small celebration on Wednedsay night on Kaiden's "actual birthday", as Kaiden likes to say. If you wish him a happy birthday right now, he will say that it is not his "actual birthday" and if you ask him how old he is he will still say "4 1/2".
So that was our day. Oh.... and it is my 11th anniversary today.
2 comments:
I love that picture of Kael.
Grampie
Thanks. I actually had to crop the kid out next to him, who wasn't "with us" he was just playing at the park at the time we were. But this great photo of Kael was a bit distracting becuase this other kid was picking his nose in this photo. I like the way it came out though, kinda artsy with Kael to the side. :-)
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