My son's birthday

Hi all,
How many of have wondered about ways to celebrate you kids' birthdays. Or how many of you have felt it's waste of time and have failed to see it from a child's perspective. let me share my experience and what made me make such celebrations a regular in our home.
I come from an orthodox and more so a conservative family where they feel even attending birthday parties is a waste of time. But things changed once my bro got married and my SIL started throwing party for every small occasion. so cutting cake, decorating our home etc, became a norm in our household when there is a function. The maiden venture was during the sashtiabdapoorthi of my dad. from then on, I took over and whenever there are birthdays or anniversaries I quietly call my florists and order for a bouquet along with a box of cake. we all slowly got attuned to this new culture brought in by my Bhabhi. But again we rolled back these new customs for a while (for reason unknown to us).
It again croppedup when we threw a grand bash when my son turned one but then the next two years came and went unnoticed. I used to discuss with my mom that It;s sheer waste of time and money when that comes to brithday parties. with everyone in the house employed who has time for such functions? this was going on till the day when My son started pestering me to throw a party for his fourth birthday. though i wanna pursue it, I felt hesitant (thanks for the coservativ ebackground in which i was brought up). I kept saying let's see. I was trying to get away without doing any thing. How mean i am? The day was drawing close and I was not doing any preparation to hold a party or buying return gifts. My son was curious to know whether I am going to hold a party. as usual i said let's see. he got cheesed off and said why ma you guys ask me to attend my friends' brithdays parties but when that comes to mine why shouldn't I? the question that made me think and arrange for a party was (let me put it verbatim to get the real hang of it): Naan mattum friendsoda birthday na ava veetla poi sapidaren ana naan en birthdaykku yaariuim invite panni sappadu kuduka koodatha? ennakku asingama irukku chumma poi sapidarathuku. nee avala en birthdaykku invite pannuvennaka inime naan poren else i won't go.
These words from my lil one made me think again and again and I felt really ashamed to be so workaholic and not trying to undestand how embarrasing he would have felt. So we decided to throw a bash when he turned four and we have decided to make it a regular affair.
share your experiences regarding this. and what interests kids when that comes to gifts or return gifts. coz' i had real tough time choosing some during my son's birthday party.
cheers
sudhara

 

Hi lavii,
Thank you so much for your reply. And all the very best for the new one. Take care and be safe. Get all necessary details for the new mom-to-be to avoid 11th hour rush. take good care of yourself and the infant too. Do let me know about the name.
all the best
sudhara

 

HI,
thanx for considering it a thought-provoking article. I was racking my brain as to how to handle it when that comes to birthdays. thank you for giving your piece of mind. I do see to it that I make it a regular affair.
sudhara

 

Hi Mindian,
It's really nice to receive many replies. Yes I do agree with you that these growing up years are different from their teen years. I will make it a point to celebrate my DS's birthday every year as long as I can.
cheers
sudhara

 

Hi pragati,
It's too appreciating. Though feeding the poor or visiting the orphanage along with my son are in my agenda I hardly find time to organise those visits. I feel too bad to say that. let me try. All i need to know is time management. I shall try to fix it this year.
thanx
sudhara