The amount of giddiness that kids can have when something special is coming up can melt your heart. Suddenly that little bundle of joy overflows with excitement and happiness. Several kids would get this feeling for the holidays. However, some would argue that the bliss that kids experience for their birthdays tops all other holidays. Why? Everyone celebrates the common holidays like Halloween or New Year’s Day. But a birthday? It is a momentous day every year, reserved only for the celebrant. When that special day comes, the perfect birthday party places will be filled with food, friends, and fun.
Why Their Birthday Matters
To some adults, birthdays can become yearly reminders that they are one step closer to old age. The world can be tough, and it can wear people out. Kids are still free from those troubles, and with luck, they may never experience the doom and gloom that many adults feel every year. To kids, birthdays are another opportunity to grow, and not just physically, but mentally as well. Some kids are even unaware of time.
Sure, they may know that time it is during the day, but they may be oblivious to where they are in the developmental stages or the grand scheme of life. They can just be going through the motions.
For parents and child development experts, the childhood years are key times for kids to develop their cognitive, social, emotional, and physical skills. For the kids, they are just living life. Birthday celebrations offer a speed bump for kids and make them think and realize that, “Wow! Another year has passed! I wonder what I have done this year? What else can I do next year?”
Give It Context
It is common for people to use other things as a reminder. Some post sticky notes on places at which they commonly look to remind themselves quickly. Others may set an alarm on their phone. The same is true for kids. In their case, what you want them to remember is not only the year that has passed, but hopefully the previous years as well. Just imagine birthdays as a huge annual sticky note.
An excellent way to achieve this reminder is to put it in the right context. You can start with the venue. There are a number of great birthday party places that you can choose. Next is to have the right people over, such as family and friends. You do not need to have the entire neighbourhood over. Just as how couples would sometimes have only the closest of family and friends over, so can you do the same for birthday parties.
Then there is the food. You do not need the grandest of cakes. Their favourites will be perfect. If they love mac & cheese, then go for it. Who says you need to have cake?
Over time, your kids may not exactly remember the place, but they can remember the colours and smiles, the smell and taste of the food, the laughs, and just the overall fun that they had. And the appreciation that they have for that fun can make them think about how they got there. Whatever good they may have done in the past year, if it led to them having the best birthday ever, then they can tend to continue doing that good and striving for better.