I've tried. Really I have. To have cute birthday traditions. We've done the balloons in the bed (crib), but that required me to get up REALLY early. And I just don't have the time or energy for all of that. We've tried presents (wrapped and everything) on the table, waiting for them when they wake up. But, again, this requires planning and execution. Both things that, with my insane kids and insane schedule, just aren't in me. Nope. Nope. Nope. I can barely make Christmas happen, let alone doing all of that three extra times of the year. My kids have parties. Isn't that enough??
There is one birthday tradition I have been able to do and maintain. And that is the halfy. What is a halfy, you ask? Well let me tell you about it. A halfy is a half birthday (get it?). And it is the easiest tradition to honor. Because to honor the halfy correctly, you only need two things:
- To actually remember the date of your kid's half birthday.
- To provide cookies.
And sometimes, when life happens, the cookie can be from Panera on the way home from school. See below:
Look, don't get me wrong. I love my children and want to celebrate the fact that they're getting older, bigger, and wiser (but at the same time I kinda want to curl into a ball and cry in my closet). But there are three of them, a husband who works lots of really weird hours, an aging dog, two indoor/outdoor cats, plus my own job. At this stage in my life, I need easy, simple. My kids are still young enough that giving them cookies to honor their half birthday is awesome. (Seriously, my middle son was just five-and-a-half and he has told that to EVERYONE he has come into contact with.)
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I also kinda like that it's at a whole separate time from their actual birthdays. They get a party. They get a cake. They get presents. Isn't that enough? And then, six months later, they get another fun thing to commemorate the halfway point to the next age. That half mark is important to kids. More so than I ever would've thought. They're so PROUD to be their age plus a half. And this is a great way to commemorate that.
