Birthdays with a Cause
My son turned 6 a couple of months ago. We had a party, and requested no gifts, and suggested in the invitation that if you would like to, bring a goodie for an animal instead (we contacted a local animal sanctuary and asked them what they needed).
Noah and I went out and visited first to make sure the animals were well cared for....any boy were they! I wish I lived there!
We included a list of ideas on the back of the invitation (plus a cute picture of a rescued sheep). Kids showed up with bags of carrots for the bunnies, apples for the sheep and pigs, dog food, cat food, watermelon, etc....he is the only vegetarian in his class, but they were still receptive to the idea.
After the party, Noah and one of his best friends headed out to the sanctuary and got to feed the animals. It was so awesome!
I have to admit I was a little worried going into this.....he is used to parties where most of it is spent watching a child open endless presents. Although he was open to the idea, I thought he might have second thougts once we actually got there and realized that there was nothing for him to open. He didn't miss the gifts at all (neither did I ::). It was really a great experience for him~ we might make it a tradition and pick a different animal charity each year (there's a bunch around here). I think he will remember this birthday celebration more than any other he has had because there was meaning tied to it.
Don't worry, we had our own little party for him and he did get a *few* presents of his own, not to mention the grandmas who spoiled him!
Here's a picture of him feeding "Downy" the sheep, who followed us everywhere!
Ok, I just realized that I don't know how to post a picture on here. What do you do after you hit the picture button and the image tags show up? ???
That is so great to hear! I'm looking forward to visiting there myself.
To attach a pic, goto the "addition options...."
-type in the name of the pic (where you have it stored on your hard drive)
-hit browse and search for the correct pic....then post it!
hope that helps,
-dave
Hope this works!
It did work! Nice to see a child having a fun time at an animal sanctuary as opposed to being at Chucky Cheese for his birthday!
This IS a great idea! I think sometimes people get too caught up in material things; the truth is... a lot of times, kids only have one or two favorite toys, and the rest just end up unused in a box somewhere. This is a good way to get kids involved with helping the animals! Also, i know if it was me, i would have felt really good about sharing my birthday with the animals :) I might just have to have something like this for my graduation party!
Oh yeah, and the picture is ADORABLE! Thank you for sharing the story and pic :)
Ok, now that I know how to do this, I can't resist. Thanks Dave!
Note the goat to the right looking smug with a carrot in his mouth!
What an awesome idea! I'm sure he had much more fun feeding the animals than he would with silly plastic toys! He will probably remember it longer as well.
I don't have any kids, but if I ever do, I'm totally gonna do this!
That's an awesome idea!!!! :D
You gave him an experience that will last longer than any material gift.
We don't do birthday parties for our son. We also don't do Christmas (we replace it with learning about and celebrating a different wintertime holiday around the world each year)
Our little boy has more than he could possibly want, he doesn't need random onslaughts of toys. This gives us the ability to buy him something when we go out and he is being extra good, or just if we feel like it. He usually chooses something simple like a ball or a small train, not an "alien mutant village complete with cargo carrier and space-shuttle"... Trust me our son has plenty of toys/things.
Our family asks us, "but won't he miss that?"
Yeah, just like he misses the commercial TV that we don't watch (We have TVs but only use them for DVDs)
We have wondered about what to do when he is older and wants to have friends over for birthdays. I think this is a great idea little2ant!!
Maybe I can even expand it to other places (which our son can choose from, you know whatever touches him) like "no gifts please, bring a new or old coat for a homeless child" I'd love to think of some more to have a whole list!
Or maybe not even a cause birthday but just a day not centered around gifts... Maybe a birthday run... or nature hike?
We have wondered about what to do when he is older and wants to have friends over for birthdays. I think this is a great idea little2ant!!
Maybe I can even expand it to other places (which our son can choose from, you know whatever touches him) like "no gifts please, bring a new or old coat for a homeless child" I'd love to think of some more to have a whole list!
Or maybe not even a cause birthday but just a day not centered around gifts... Maybe a birthday run... or nature hike?
The idea sort of started out that way......I just wanted the whole class to get together and play-and not be centered around gifts. I mentioned it to one of the other moms, and she was like, "but the kids like to show up with something! They like walking in with a balloon and present to give!". UGH- Other people (my brother) were telling me they have tried the "no gift" thing and people didn't listen, so that's when we thought that if they want to bring something, it should be for the animals (or other cause) and not him. Only one girl broke the rule.....she had wrapped up a small book for Noah and attached it to her big bag of dog food. I thought this was fine! He didn't even notice it until we got home.
It was really cute-he told me in the days before the party that kids were telling what they were going to bring to the party~"Noah, I am bringing carrots for the bunnies to your party!". He got all excited about it!
BTW, Vegan cupcakes were served (from VCTOTW) and everyone gobbled them up! I placed a different (large) marble on each one that I got in bulk at the hardware store so each kid got to take a marble home instead of a junkie goodie bag. They loved the marbles!
It was really cute-he told me in the days before the party that kids were telling what they were going to bring to the party~"Noah, I am bringing carrots for the bunnies to your party!". He got all excited about it!
that is so cool!
so not all of the kids went to the animal sanctuary to feed the animals? why not? was that against their rules? or would that have just been too much?
Little2ant, that is beautiful. Reminds me of the saying "we need more parents and less people with children."
Noah is a special kid (with a great mom).
Little2Ant, thanks for sharing such beautiful photos! In addition to helping animals, your son is learning lessons that will be so valuable to him for the rest of his life. Learning respect for ALL life is such a wonderful gift. You are such a cool mom! :)
It did work! Nice to see a child having a fun time at an animal sanctuary as opposed to being at Chucky Cheese for his birthday!
You can say that again! Last time I was at Chuck E. Cheese, one little kid was crying and wouldn't come in the building, and another was hiding in the bathroom. They were terrified of that huge RAT.
It was really cute-he told me in the days before the party that kids were telling what they were going to bring to the party~"Noah, I am bringing carrots for the bunnies to your party!". He got all excited about it!
that is so cool!
so not all of the kids went to the animal sanctuary to feed the animals? why not? was that against their rules? or would that have just been too much?
it wasn't on the invitation as part of the "party" but I did mention it to each of the parents that thats what we were doing after and they were welcome to come. Only one decided to come (his friend that is not in his class and I am friends with his mom). I was actually kind of glad because I sometimes find it hard to socialize with these moms that I have nothing in common with (although they are VERY nice)-especially with so many at once. I'm a bit of a social-phobe sometimes. Plus the sanctuary was about 15 min away, and maybe people just didnt' feel like driving or taking more time. I think they already thought we were "weird" and making it part of the party may have been "too much" like you said! ;) The lady who runs the sanctuary said we could have the party there, and maybe we will try that someday. I am going to print out some pics we took and give them to the kids who came as a thank you so at least they can see the animals.
Little2ant, that is beautiful. Reminds me of the saying "we need more parents and less people with children."
Noah is a special kid (with a great mom).
Nutdragon, I love this quote! As a person who had to choose to be childless in a country where a woman's validation is still closely bound up with her ability to reproduce, and having lived through 2 Mother's Days in 2 weeks (my email was full of them), I am heartily glad to read it. It makes a great deal of sense.