This week is a special one for Alamo City Moms Blog… we are celebrating our first birthday! In honor of this occasion, we will bring you a week full of anything and everything birthday related. Thank you for making our first year such a great success and we are excited about the year ahead!
There is something about my children’s birthdays that makes me want to hit pause in life and record what they are like at just this exact moment in time. With three of them now, I have to be extra diligent to make the time to get it done but much like working out, once I am finished, I am always glad I did it!
1. My Annual Letter To Them
This birthday tradition, now my favorite, came about when my oldest was two and I had a scary thought, “What if my life was unexpectantantly taken early? What would I want each of my children to know about what I think of them and the people they were becoming?” To solve this issue, I just made a tradition every year around their birthday, to write down my thoughts, dreams and love for them. Sometimes the letters are shorter but many times the words just pour out of me. I find the best time to write them is when I am relaxed and just watching them play or do something they love.
2. Top 10 List
This is a simple list that I look forward to doing every year with each of the kids which documents their absolute favorite things and strong personality traits at this exact moment in time. It’s not meant to be a recap of their entire year, just who they are now. I like to document each item with a picture or two to really bring it to life. It is, with out a doubt, my favorite thing to look back on and I can only imagine what laughs it will bring in 50 years.
3. Birthday Interview – A live recording
This became incredibly important to me when my second child, Addie, was two and I realized how quickly the “baby voice” goes away. I wanted to make sure I had at least one good video of just her, displaying her natural tendencies, sweet voice and mannerisms. It is also fun to throw in a funny question that they will look back on and laugh… like who is your boyfriend or girlfriend right now? Or what do you want to be when you grow up? Have them say a cute word you want to always remember or have them dance, as I did here with Addie, when she was 4.
4. Birthday Books
This was a gift I received years ago from a dear friend and I immediately went out and purchased copies for the other children. I absolutely LOVE this book and use to capture the little weekly or monthly items my young children receive throughout the year that I don’t quite know what to do with. It’s much like my baby book for the kids as they continue to grow. I attach an annual picture and keep it in an easy to access location, on their bookshelf, and put things in it all year long, such as – bike rodeo participation ribbons, their best friend’s birthday party invitation, their first admission bracelet to Schlitterbahn or a copy of your family’s annual holiday card. Together, we seal up the “Annual Time Capsule,” around their birthday.
5. Birthday Photo-shoot
You could already be good at taking regular pictures of your kids, but either way, I always make a point to take them outside in one of their favorite, everyday outfits and take some pictures of them alone (without their siblings.) I just let them play and be themselves and I find it a great way to capture the little personalties they are busy developing. You don’t have to have a fancy camera, in fact, your camera phone could do the trick. It’s important to remember them at each age and you can make it tons of fun and interactive, asking them to pose anyway they would like. I remember my mom doing this when I was young, in our backyard, and looking back at the pictures always brings a huge smile to my face.
[…] Annual Birthday Traditions […]
Happy birthday!