Hellobee Boards

When DS2 turned 5, we gave him a "yes day" instead of a party. We had someone put a balloon installation thing in the front yard and chalked our driveway. We put balloons in his room and decorated the first floor of our house. We also hid his gifts around the house so he would have to find them. Since he only turned 5, he couldn't get into too much trouble on his Yes Day but that basically meant that he picked what we ate for our meals and what movie we watched when we needed to spend some time inside b/c it was HOT outside. We went to a park and he wanted to build an "epic fort" in our basement. He helped decorate his own cake. We also had a short parade of his friends drive by. He loved it.

DS1 is already planning his Yes Day for November. Since he's turning 8, there will be more rules! No, we won't just be playing video games all day. Ha!

I was talking with my friend who's son is turning 8 soon and had heard of taking your kid to Target and letting them pick out their own presents. Whatever they can carry, they can get. Ok, limits there too as my kid could hold a lot of Switch games.

Holidays are a bit trickier based on what you normally do. We will decorate like crazy for Halloween, which we haven't done in the past. We'll play trick or treating by ear. And while we have normally gone to a pumpkin patch, not sure how that will go yet.

Christmas is still in the works. Depending on whether school is still in person or if it's virtual by then, we'll see if we are able to meet up with family or if it will just be the 4 of us. I can see people going nuts with lights this year so we'll do some drives.

The one thing I've been thinking about it that while it's never a bad thing to create new traditions, I don't want to go crazy and set the bar super high and feel like I have to meet or exceed it every year. That will exhaust me. There will still be magic. I think what I will need to remind myself this year is that this is a great opportunity to simplify and focus on what truly matters. My kids will be fine. I put too much pressure on myself!!!!

For my son’s birthday, we did a piñata in our basement and a surprise cake stand (https://surprisecake.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwy8f6BRC7ARIsAPIXOjgOm0rlPui-ip7rJdoVBHGvY9Snzui_pmUO7_2EeVj-rikIRQk0mIcaAk2_EALw_wcB). We also had a balloon garland installed on our front porch. My 8 year son claimed it was the best birthday he ever had, which was interesting because we’ve gone all out to throw some fun parties!