All three of my children look forward to their birthdays, and to each others birthdays. My husband and I try very hard to incorporate teamwork, cooperation, sharing, helping, and mutual support into everything our family does, and birthdays are the perfect opportunity to do so.

I have three girls. They are all fairly young, so they are geared for their ages. All of them get a choice. They can choose to have a party and receive several small gifts from their friends, or they can opt for one really nice gift from dad and I. Last year, my oldest daughter chose a party. It was great. We had water balloons, slip and slide, wading pools, ice cream cake, the works. She had a great time, and the party was our gift to her. Her younger sister was assigned the responsibility of setting up the food table with paper plates and napkins. She was so excited to help out! She never once got upset that she didn't get any presents. The birthday girl was also very generous. She passed out the cake slices herself, picked out her own goodies to give away, and thanked everyone for coming with a big hug upon arrival. This year, she has opted not to have a party. Not because she didn't enjoy it, but because she requested that dad and I take her to a huge water park called Wet N Wild. We will pay for her, her sister, and one friend to go.

My purpose for this is so they know that the day they were born was a blessing of creation. They also know that there are limits on indulgence. Its not that we dont have the money to indulge them, or even the desire. We are human. I would love to give my daughters all the desires of their heart. But they are not the only people in the world, and life will go on if their wants are not fulfilled. There are many people who struggle to have half of what we do, and we want our daughters to recognize the need in the world.

Learn more about this author, Dearae Thomsen.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about How to honor but not indulge your child on his/her birthday?
We want to hear your view. Write now!