With Lily-girl turning FOUR next week, Mama has started thinking about how to commemorate this special birthday. While four isn’t exactly a milestone birthday like one, five, thirteen or sixteen…kids just don’t understand why every year isn’t as special as the last. For the first birthday, naturally we threw a huge fiesta. While it’s no secret that Mama loves to plan a party (for any reason or none at all!), the first birthday only comes once so it’s hard to explain to Lily-girl that for the fourth birthday their will be no tattoo artist, no bouncer, no spin art frisbees, no cotton candy machine, no popcorn machine, no Mexican taco truck, no dessert bar…oh, and no live band!
So here we are days away from the big event and Mama is hoping to replace that idea of a huge party with a special gift that can be shared and kept for years to come. Here’s Mama’s short list of commemorative birthday gifts — what’s your way of making your little ones feel special on their birthday?
Charm Bracelet — while little girls don’t quite get the whole jewelry is not always for dress-up only concept, this is by far my favorite gift. How special is it to get a new charm each year to put on your bracelet and then eventually pass the tradition onto your daughter someday. Mama is a HUGE fan of the Charm Factory. They recently sent Mama their signature Silver Heart Bracelet and it’s just perfect for Lily-girl to wear now and add charms too for the future! In fact, they have so many — it’s taken me a long time to figure out which one to get for the BIG 4. Everything from simple crystal birthstones to “personality” charms like shoes and bubblegum machines, you’ll find a charm for every personality. Available at CharmFactory.com, $24.99 for Silver Heart Bracelet. Love it? Enter to win your own charm bracelet from The Charm Factory below.
Piggy Banks — Mama’s parents started a piggy bank collection for me and gave me a new one each year. Mama would use the one piggy bank for the whole year filling it with coins, dollar bills, and sometimes buttons (weird, I know) and then at the next birthday I would get half of whatever was in the bank to spend on what I wanted and the other half, went into a savings account. Mama adores the personalized banks for boys and girls at Nordstrom.com, $46, but there are so many cute and creative piggies out there so have fun with this one!
My philosophy is simple: just because you're a mom doesn't mean you have to forgo style or your life. You can do it all with a little help from Mama. Mama makes life easier by doing all the shopping, crafting and ranting for you because really...what Mama has the time for that?! Mama will not lie, I can bake but if you're looking for cooking tips you might be better off going someplace else!
The best gift(s) i've ever gotten came from God – and that's my 2 little boys. =)I am blessed with a mother who can buy great gifts and a husband who is totally wonderful at gifts – only one "bad" gift in 20 years!Hillary
Best gift ever given? Well according to my mother, it's her grandchildren. Best gift ever received? Hummm, that's a tough one. I tend to like experiences, i.e., a trip or a show better than a tangible object. megan_rebelo@yahoo.com
I love scrapbooking and used to totally stress about getting all the the little details on there right. Then, my fiance gave me a photo printer that does 12x12s so I could go digital. Best gift ever!
I fanned and commented on your FB wall (do I need to post here as an additional entry…?)
This is such a tough question but the best gift I ever received was my watch from my Hubby…it was actually a push present…I didn't get an epidural and he was so proud of me that I gave birth without any meds. Funny thing was he was so AGAINST push presents…hahaha – my pain made him change his mind
carolinetanaka@gmail.com
Well my best gift ties in nicely with the charm bracelet give-away since it was a charm. In 1995 my dad gave me a St. Christopher charm before I left for my 7 week backpacking trip through Europe with a friend. The back was engraved Love, Mom & Dad. Now that he is gone it is one of my most precious belongings. I had it attached to the Tiffany charm bracelet with heart charm that my hubby gave me for our wedding, which is my second favorite present.
My best gift was an iPod I love music!! All my CD's drove my husband nuts! When the iPod first came out he knew – it would be perfect and engraved it "My love for you and music…"Last year he figured it was time I upgraded from the original one and got me an Ipod Touch. Love them both!!!Another one would be the picadilly charm bracelet from Brighton my mom gave it to my two sisters…lil hearts with something special on the back of each heart.
The best given was when all the adult kids and their kids conspired to take a group photo. Maybe all have done that but for us, no small feat. We even ALL dressed alike!!! Yep, try finding a black onsie (we dyed it). It turned out amazing and left dear mom-in-law speechless- LOVE THAT! I think the best gift I received was this year actually, for a year membership to the kids science museum! Love that!
The best gift I've ever received were tickets to the Broadway show, West Side Story. It was the most thrilling experience of my life.hurricaneharinder@yahoo.com
Here is an additional entry via twitterhttp://twitter.com/HMundi/statuses/10591987780hurricaneharinder@yahoo.com
Heres to another entry http://www.facebook.com/pages/Everyday-Mama/151641045449?ref=tsI fanned and commentedhurricaneharinder@yahoo.com