It’s Birthday Season! 1 x Niece and 1 x Nephew followed by another 1 x Niece in about 8 weeks. And that means only 1 thing:
OK, not quite, that is a bit of a stretch.
Last year on 5YO Niece’s Birthday (Otherwise known on this blog as “Howling Wolf” as that is her favourite T-shirt), I decided that rather than buying them more…..’stuff’, that I would take them on a date day.
The first birthday date day went completely to plan. A few hours one on one, doing a fun activity (maybe something they haven’t done before), grabbing a bite to eat, and perhaps a stop in at the shops to buy something…..one thing that they could keep and play with.
So, at Christmas, all 3 kids got a ‘gift voucher’ for a date day with me. I thought I was genius (I wrote about Aunty-ing at Christmas here). I thought it would be simple, effective and fun for everyone (read: cheaper than buying presents).
That was until they all decided that they wanted “shopping” as their date day. For anyone who remembers the TV show ‘Supermarket Sweep’, the day closely resembled the final scene from that show.
Please note: My excellent use of photoshop
As a quick recap three teams all play through several rounds of price guessing and grocery questions to win ‘time’ in the supermarket. The winners are the team who spend the most money with the time that they’ve got. As you can imaging it is a frantic rush and grab to put as much stuff in the trolley as possible. It’s all about tactics, do you go straight for the bulky nappies and fill your trolley wasting precious time or do you stay in there and put as much stuff in each trolley as possible.
The girls, had it all planned out, which shops in the centre they wanted to visit, in a particular order to buy many many very specific items. Although 5YO niece was a bit more haphazard and our conversations went like this ([insert eye rolls in appropriate places]:
5YO: Jek, Can I have this?
Me: What is it?
5YO: Green toilet poo slime
Me: No
5YO: But I NEED it
Me: *Walks away*
Alternatively, another conversation went a little like this…..
Me: Do you want to get a sparkly notebook? What colour?
5YO: I’ll just get 4
Me: Ahhhhh no. The 2 for $5 table is over here……..
I totally adore them, and obviously got caught up in their I-will-love-you-more-if-you-buy-this-for-me look. And I probably didn’t up spending any more money than I would buying them gifts and not spending the time together.
What they don’t know is that this birthday or date day I am making the rules. Me. You know, the ADULT in the situation. It’s a movie, something to eat, and $20 to spend together on an item of their choosing.
Memories are made on experiences, not ‘stuff’. Who remembers what they got as a gift when they were 5? Nobody remembers the ‘things’ that were flavour of the day for a birthday and then discarded for the next a few weeks later in favour of something else.
Yes – I’m looking at you Beanie Boos. Yes, you “Popcorn” (owned by 7YO) and “Sarah LuLu” (Owned by 5YO). And Yes – I got conned into buying both of them!
What’s the best present/gift or experience you’ve ever given or received? Do you do a similar thing with your kids? Nieces/Nephews?
