He loved his “dirt cup” 1/2 cupcake and blowing out his candle!
When I was growing up, I remember certain teachers celebrating Summer birthdays on kids’ half birthdays. That didn’t apply to me — my birthday is in February — but I remember thinking it was nice they still got a chance to bring treats to school for the class and to be celebrated. After grade school, I pretty much didn’t think about 1/2 Birthdays again.
However, when I was in college I had a friend/housemate/sorority sister named Sarah, who made me love the idea of half birthdays (for more than just Summer birthday kids.) Her immediate family had the cutest tradition of getting half a birthday cake on each person’s half birthday, on a special plate that looked like it was cut in half to perfectly fit the half cake. HOW FREAKIN’ CUTE IS THAT?!? I knew if I ever had kids, I would celebrate half birthdays. Because, why not make your baby feel special on another day of the year??
Today is my Sour Patch Kids’ half birthday. Enzo is all things fun and sassy, witty and salty, observant and loud, emotional and strong, independent and attached, sweet and spicy. He knows his shapes, colors, animals, numbers, letters, body parts, (amongst a longgg list of other things), speaks in full sentences, admires nature, loves all types of food, is an animal and dinosaur lover, has a discerning taste in music, is a fan of making and appreciating art, has quite the throwing arm, etc. Grateful today and everyday to be the mom of this magical kid… undoubtedly the best job in the whole world.
And today, now that he’s old enough to “get it,” we start a new tradition. While we didn’t do a half cake… yet, we did have half a cupcake to celebrate my big 2.5 year old! If you love silly ways to make your kiddos feel extra loved and celebrated, I highly encourage you to introduce the 1/2 Birthday idea… it really is never too late.
P.S. Thank-you, Sarah, for the inspiration all those years ago. 🙂
