It began with an idea I had to do something special for my soon to be sixteen year old son. I put an update on facebook requesting birthday cards be mailed to him for his birthday in July.
For weeks I went to the mailbox and grabbed cards and hid them in a cabinet. On his birthday I tied all the cards up with ribbon and gave him the stack. Initially he was confused. Then I explained that a bunch of family friends, family members, and my old high school friends sent him birthday cards!
He was thrilled. He read each and every card and we laughed and joked and giggled and I explained, when necessary, who these people were.
I love, love, love that people took the time to find a card (not always cheap), address them, and actually mail the cards! I can't tell you how touched I am at this simple and yet meaningful act that people...some I haven't seen in decades...decided to do for my firstborn. What a FUN MEMORY we made for his 16th birthday!!
In a nutshell: it was a HUGE success. And, I love that it was such a simple enjoyment...that he could get nothing more than a bunch of greeting cards for his birthday and he was obviously happy and thought the idea was very cool (he even asked for me to do it again next year!). It was also successful in my attempts to keep our lives and birthdays from getting out of hand...and I love when we can have fun while keeping it all simple...and not making his birthday all about the things. In fact, his birthday was very low-key. I made him all his requested meals: french toast for breakfast; chicken quesidillas for lunch; and hamburgers and fried rice for dinner. For dessert he wanted peanut butter pie. We invited our family over for dessert and coffee and we sat back and enjoyed the day. And, I think he genuinely enjoyed his birthday.
Balloons in his room, our yearly tradition
Hi requested, albeit strange combination, dinner
Peanut butter pie...yummy!
And the cards begin...
The bundle...
Opening all those cards took quite awhile and we made Josh read every single word...aloud (I asked him to sign but he was embarrassed!)
We laughed and laughed at some of those cards! FUN!
More reading...(p.s. Karri, your handmade card was AMAZING! Everyone LOVED it!!!)
Josh and his cards...so, so, so fun...and a great way to celebrate a birthday!!! (I realize his eyes are closed, but oh well, I only took one with my camera!)
All I can hope for in raising my children that I provide them with memories that don't focus solely on stuff (if you've been reading this blog for any amount of time I'm fairly certain you know this about me!!) because that is not what I want them to remember as they head out into the world...I hope they will remember simple fun, happy moments, silly laughs. And this birthday was a total win.
So awesome!!! I LOVED this idea and remembered seeing your original post on fb and thinkin - man, I wish I would have thought of that in time for my own Sweet 16er!!! The whole day sounds perfect... (and I am glad that ya'll loved the card!)
~Karrilee~
Posted by: Karrilee | Thursday, July 21, 2011 at 12:40 PM