Happy 8th Birthday

We celebrated K's 8th birthday day before yesterday. Nothing fancy, just a special dinner cooked to her request.

I'm grateful that my kids have never asked for a big birthday party. The last "big" party we had was when kokoD turned 1 and K turned 3. It was a 2-in-1 party coz' both of their birthdays are in August. We booked an indoor futsal area and had lots of friends attend. Since then all their birthdays have been really simple - specially cooked lunch/dinner at home cooked by me. I also try to take them somewhere special. Last year I took them to a movie. This year we visited Gardenia's Bread factory. They are also given a budget of RM5 to spend on whatever they like.

In front of the Gardenia Bread factory with their goody bags.

This was K's specially requested birthday dinner:

Mommy's Fried Chicken Drumsticks (finger licking good MFC), chicken fingers, mash potatoes with gravy, french fries and coleslaw.

K enjoyed her chicken drumsticks and coleslaw to the max. I feel blessed that my children can enjoy a relatively inexpensive birthday meal (considering it would have cost me much, much more if ordered from KFC). I guess she also saw how mommy (with her big, big tummy) spent many hours in the kitchen preparing her meal and that made her appreciate the dinner more.

Mama's Parenting Tip on birthdays:

• Don't have to throw an elaborate birthday party each year for your children. You can still make it special in small ways.
• Start a family birthday tradition to make the birthday child feel extra special. For example: a special day out for the birthday child, a new dress/shirt, trip to the bookstore to select a book of their choice, birthday child picks the menu for the day, treasure hunt to find presents bought by family members etc....