Birthday Magic

We celebrated LittleBird's birthday this weekend. Ten little girls running and screaming in full princess regalia. Once again, the party gods smiled on us. No one was hurt. No one cried. There was no fighting, shoving, or tug-o-war over toys. We decorated crowns and made princess bracelets. They ate Palace Pizzas and Magical Macaroni. The cake was a success, I must say.


My favorite part, however, was the after-party.

LittleMan woke up from his nap to a quiet house. After hugs and stretches, LittleBird gave her brother a present. It has been our tradition for the birthday celebrant to give their sibling a gift at the party for being such a good little brother/big sister all year. While in truth it started as a way to help the other child feel included, from the beginning we hoped it would foster feelings of appreciation between the children as each birthday passed.

LittleBird gave LittleMan a hug to say thank you for being such a great little brother all year.

Birthdays don't have to be about being selfish and only receiving. This time she hugged LittleMan after only one prompt and gave him a genuine thank you. Future celebrations may involve less altruism and more threats along the lines of Hug him, dammit, or all your toys go back to the store!!! but this time it was easy. It was fun. And it was genuine.

Birthdays rock!