My son turns 4.5 on Sunday. I was thinking of making some cupcakes and a putting them out on a card table on our driveway so that he could offer them to his neighborhood friends. Is this too much? Do any of you do anything to recognize a half birthday? I don't expect I'd do this cupcake thing for all of his half birthdays but this year he is so proud of turning 4.5 and it's so cute, I thought we'd have a little celebration.
What wonderful ideas you all had! Thank you! We had such a fun day today that included a family walk to the farmer's market, a visit to the pool with friends, and then another walk to get frozen yogurt in the evening. My son, Todd, woke up extra early today asking, "is it Sunday yet?" He was on top of the world all day. He helped me frost the cupcakes and we brought them outside to the neighbors right after lunch and then brought the leftovers to the pool for our friends there.I was very tempted to cut the cupcakes in half like a couple of you mentioned but it didn't seem necessary. To Todd, today was far more than half a celebration! We really didn't do anything birthday-specific other than the cupcakes. My son had so many details planned--a card he made early in the week (he wanted it to say "I love you, Mom", which didn't bother me!), where the cupcakes should be hidden outside (I didn't go for this), and how he would knock on doors and give people cupcakes (I didn't go for this either and he didn't remember, thank goodness). When the day finally came it was like he was too tired from all the excitement to worry about details.
Thanks again for all of the fun responses!
Just wanted to say that I liked Jennifer J's idea... very clever and fun. I'd merge that idea with a "giving" idea.
AND there is NOTHINg wrong with celebrating half birthdays... I just don't do it cause I have 4! It would drive me crazy! haha
Normally I would say no, don't celebrate a half birthday because you don't want them growing up feeling entitled to extra birthday celebrations and extra anything else, etc... However, I think your idea could really be a good one, since you're using his half birthday to focus on "giving" instead of "getting". You could make it an annual tradition that he think up one way to give, to be carried out on his half birthday. One suggestion is to have him help make the cupcakes he will present to his friends. You may have hit on something worthwhile here. As he gets older, the giving can get more serious and adult, like volunteering at a nursing home, or collecting winter coats for poor children etc... Good luck and have fun, giving is so rewarding for children (they just don't know it until they're forced into it, lol! Well, at least they don't unless you start them early enough :) Heck, I may even start this with my kids! Good idea!
If he's excited, just have fun with it! He'll only be little once and will grow up all too fast. Enjoy!
You are the second mom this week that is celebrating a 4.5 birthday. My great nephew was proud of the fact as well. The made the day special with an extra special treat. Of course your suggestion promotes making the day about sharing. I think it's a good idea. You might even include him in the making of the cupcakes.
If he's excited about turning 4.5 then go ahead and celebrate!!! Cupcakes at the end of the driveway is a cute idea - and I know my girls would love to drive by a neighbor's house and be offered a cupcake. Nothing wrong with that! Have fun :)
My daughter is always out of town for her birthday. Because she can never celebrate her special day with her friends, we let her celebrate on the half year mark. Her birthday ends up being for family, her half is for friends. I try to be sensitive to the other parents, for example, some of her good friends will give her a birthday gift to open on her birthday. I make sure they don't bring a second gift to her 6 month party. I think cupcakes for the neighbor kids might be fun, but don't encourage gifts... save that for the Big Day!
We only really celebrate when the baby turns 6 months old with a family meal and balloons. I kinda feel like cupcakes for the neighborhood might be overkill, although you should do whatever makes your family happy. I just think you might get some sideways glares from parents who don't do this.
If it were me, I might keep it in-house for the grandparents and close family. Or conversely, I might make a special day for your son, let him pick a special activity with just Mom and Dad and go out for ice cream.
If he is excited about it, then I would definately let him celebrate in some way. But I would differentiate it from his real birthday, and I might make it more for him than for other people. Have fun!
Our kids are still a little young, but I have every intention of celebrating half birthdays. We plan that the child having a half birthday will get to pick dinner and an activity for the family to all do together. We'll keep it simple and we will be able to do it together as just a nice way to make sure that everyone has a special day now and then. Also all of our birthdays are between February and July so it will be nice to have something the rest of the year. (Oh and of course we won't be doing gifts for half birthdays, just fun family time of the childs choice)
I've never done anything for a half birthday, but this seems cute. You're not having a party and asking for gifts, he's just sharing with his friends, there is never a bad reason to share cupcakes with friends!! I don't think it would be bad if it was a tradition that on his half birthday he had a treat to share with his friends and on his real birthday, usually they'll have some "treat (read present)" for him, what a great way without meaning to show a sharing message!!
I just turned 30 and my mother still celebrates my half birthday. I have a twin, so on our half bday, Mom cuts a card in half and sends us each a part. She also makes a cake and cuts it in half, and will sing half of the "Happy Birthday" song to us. Even though I am grown and have a family of my own, I still look forward to this tradition and I have carried it on to my son, who will turn 3.5 next week!
Our friends usually celebrate half birthdays for 2 reasons. 1 their kids bdays are in Dec., and so that do the June 1/2 birthday so that they don't get all of their presents at one time during the year. 2 is that the kid's bday is in the summer and so they do the 1/2 birthday so that they can have something at school. We do our kid's 1/2 birthdays, cuz my kids were born 6m apart, literally almost to the day. So we are throwing a party every 6m anyway, may as well include both kids since we only see some family for the birthdays and they always bring stuff for both kids. I just made it justified.
Its a fun tradition. Just remember, that as you have more kids, what you do for one, you do for all.
M.
Hello!
A friend of mine celebrated her daughter's 18 month birthday this year with HALVES of EVERYTHING! She made half a cake (just cut the circles in half after baking and made it higher by stacking them all on top of each other); burgers cut in half; ears of corn cut in half, etc etc. It was really cute, and easy enough to do without going overboard or having your son expect tons of presents or something for a small not-really-birthday celebration. Have fun!
We don't ever celebrate them - but I think it's a cute idea! If he is excited, why not join him in the excitement?? And he won't always think he gets a half birthday celebration, but what a fun idea! Have fun!
My own birthday is Dec 26. I've often thought about celebrating it 6 months away from my actual birthday simply because EVERYONE combines my birthday with Christmas and I've always felt it was unfair. I see nothing wrong with celebrating a half birthday once in awhile. A little summer backyard picnic (just to have fun - no gifts - don't even tell them the reason for the picnic - it'll be a surprise when they see the cake) might be nice with the neighborhood friends with a cake with 4 candles plus one shorter one for the half might be cute. I'm a big one for randomly celebrating any positive thing that comes up and just to have fun. Life is short and our kids are little for an even shorter time. Sometimes I think we forget to develop a joy of life in everyday events.
