Simple Birthday Traditions My Kids Love (No Pinterest Party Required)
As I sit here reminiscing about sitting in the kitchen yesterday, hand pumping probably about 30+ balloons, I’m realizing that I’ve somehow created simple yet magical birthdays for my kiddos.
Nothing about their birthday is Pinterest worthy. If anyone dropped in they would probably think it the complete opposite honestly lol.
It’s full of cheap Walmart decorations, air filled balloons (because who has the money in this economy to blow on a $50+ tank of helium), ugly (yet delicious) birthday cakes, and homemade, simple dinners.
I remember when my older two daughters were first born I felt so much pressure to give them Pinterest perfect birthdays. Ones that you felt proud to post pictures of. Ones that ended up costing me an arm and a leg. And being a young mom with a lot of debt and limited income… birthdays felt overwhelming to say the least. But that time should have felt nothing but special!
I slowly started to create traditions that ended up sticking and my girls LOVE them and look forward to them all year. They tell everyone about them and recently as they were going on to someone about “all the cool things mom does on their birthday” I realized, I’ve somehow created the most magical birthday traditions by being so basic and that it’s the time and effort, not the money spent that makes it special for them.
So here are the four traditions I have somehow accidentally created that my kids think I’m super mom for.
- Waking Up to a Room Full of Birthday Balloons 🎈
- A Special (Sometimes Slightly Chaotic) Birthday Breakfast 🥞
- The “You Pick” Birthday Dinner 🍝
- The Infamous Sleeping Beauty Cake 🎂😂
These things seemed so small and honestly.. some of them were created with me sitting on the floor crying because I felt like I should be doing more. I felt like they deserved the Pinterest birthdays with the expensive decorations and the expensive bakery made cake with the icky fondant (personal opinion I’m sorry if I offend lol).
But the way my girls react…
the way they look at me and laugh, eyes full of joy..
the hugs, the “thank you’s”..
the “you are the best mom EVER”
Ugh. It brings tears to my eyes as I write this. I would give them the world if I could… but I’m learning that all of me is already more than enough for them.
So let me go into detail for you on each birthday “tradition” in case you’re trying to find some more magic to add to your kiddos birthday.
Simple, fun magic that they’ll remember and talk about for the rest of their lives (and probably carry on with their kids one day.)
Waking Up to a Room Full of Birthday Balloons 🎈
This one is so fun to start the day with! Either the night before or super early the morning of, I spend FOREVER blowing up so many balloons and carrying them in laundry baskets to their room to dump on their floor. I have a hand pump balloon thing that I normally use, but last year.. last year I stepped it up and splurged (like $20 lol) on an electric balloon air-er upper. This bad boy has changed the game and saved my arms lol. It is loud though, so I don’t recommend using this one early in the morning.
The kids wake up and hop out of bed immediately needing to wade through an absurd amount of balloons to get out of their room. I love sitting on the couch with my coffee and hearing their giggles as soon as they wake up.
different year, same balloon chaos
A Special (Sometimes Slightly Chaotic) Birthday Breakfast 🥞
Okay this one is always different. Sometimes I truly feel like super mom and I’m on top of my game. I’ll mix up pancake batter and use whipped cream and fruit to make it look like a unicorn or an ice cream cone, sometimes I’ll just add food coloring and sprinkles and call it a day. But something else I started doing that they LOVE (and shocker – is the easiest breakfast ever) is I get canned cinnamon rolls and lay them out on a baking sheet into the shape of the number they turned. So easy. (Do you see I have a theme here?)
Another “special” idea is I will take their cup and dip the rim in frosting and roll it in sprinkles and then fill it with milk. Literally shapes and sprinkles will elevate anything “normal” and make it special for the day lol.
Sometimes we’re thriving.. sometimes we’re just doing canned cinnamon rolls
The “You Pick” Birthday Dinner 🍝
The birthday kid gets to tell me their FAVORITE dinner of the year and that’s what we have. There’s no special reservations made, no fancy steakhouse, no big bills at the end of the night that makes us eat pb&js for the rest of the week. Sometimes it’s spaghetti, sometimes it is a little pricy because they request steak and mashed potatoes with extra butter, last night it was shrimp and Asian cucumber salad (weird combo but we rolled with it.) Whatever it is, it’s THEIR dinner of the year. And they love having that choice in that.
The Infamous Sleeping Beauty Cake 🎂😂
Now I know there is some major talent out there and I LOVE seeing the themed cakes people make for their birthdays. I’ve already shared my opinion on the taste on fondant, so I won’t restate it… so you can put your pitch forks down..
Instead I ask the girls what cake flavor and frosting combo they would like. And I go to Walmart and get the good ole, dye filled (I assume), sugared out, boxed cake mix and Betty Crocker frosting lol. (Special days don’t count. We give ourselves grace.)
Instead of dumping it into a 9×13 Pyrex and keeping life simple, I decided to do two round pans and attempt a layered, bakery style cake. Every year it’s a total fail.. but that’s the best part. It’ll be uneven, lined to one side, a chunk missing from where the frosting stuck to the cake and ripped it apart, crumbs mixed into the frosting, absolutely terrible. Ugliest cake you’ll ever see 😂. My family likes to tell me my cakes look like the Sleeping Beauty cake that the poor green fairy tried to make lol. But I think it’s safe to say the mom’s ugly cake is the highlight to their whole day.
I also put their age on the top of the cake in sprinkles. I do this very professionally by cutting a stencil out of printer paper and laying it on the cake, pouring sprinkles on top, and removing the paper, taking chunks of frosting with it 😂.
These traditions have become so fun for us, and honestly.. the laughter throughout the day is what makes it feel so special.
They don’t cost a lot.
They’re definitely not “Pinterest worthy.”
And half the time they’re a little chaotic and thrown together.
But to my kids? They’re everything.
They wake up excited. They laugh all day. They feel seen and celebrated in a way that no perfectly decorated party ever could.
And I think that’s what I’ve learned through all of this…
Our kids don’t need the most expensive decorations, or the most aesthetic cake, or a party that impresses other people.
They just need us.
Our time.
Our effort.
Our silly, imperfect, trying our best kind of love.
Because somehow.. that’s the part that turns into magic.
And if I’ve learned anything –
it’s that the sillier, the simpler, and the more “us” it is…
the more they love it. 🤍
Looking back through these photos…
the balloons change, the cakes don’t get any prettier 😂
but the joy?
it never changes.
And somehow.. it’s become one of those things that marks time for us.
Another year older, another layered cake, another room full of balloons.
