Hi! We are a large family with seven wonderful children who just won’t stop growing! Can you guess what that means? We have a lot of birthdays in our family and most of them are in the springtime.

We keep our birthday celebrations simple or it would quickly become a huge time constraint and would break the budget. We have a family party where the child receives a gift, homemade cards and enjoys dinner and dessert of their choice. They don’t have to do their chores or do school work that day.

Why Do We Have Simple Birthday Parties?

I am going to start off by sharing the why behind what we do. Having a lot of big birthday parties would be:

• Overwhelming
• Cost a lot
• Take a lot of time
• Character Traits

Overwhelming

When our family started to grow, it grew really fast because we were foster and adoptive parents. In one year we went from one child to five children and as you can imagine we were very overwhelmed.

We were just trying to figure out how to meet all their needs and get them settled and planning spectacular birthday parties were at the bottom of the list. Honestly, it would have been the straw that broke the camel’s back so we decided to scale things back a little and enjoy meaningful family time together.

If I’m being completely honest with you, we really needed the time to bond and adjust to being a family at that point.

Cost

Whatever we spend for one child’s birthday party, we would have to multiply by seven. When I did the math on the cost of these birthday parties, I was shocked. So we decided to take a different path with that money and spend it on family vacations instead.

Using the money to go on a couple of vacations would provide opportunities for us to create memories that would last forever and that has greatly benefited us.

Check Out our Large Family Budget Tips Here:

Our Large Family Budget

Time

As I mentioned above, we have several birthdays in the springtime which creates a bit of a schedule conflict. Not only does it take a lot of time to adequately plan and prepare for the party, but we would also be having events on back to back weekends.

Character

I think having a simple and easy birthday party builds character traits in our children. They are very grateful and content to keep things easy but it also helps them understand the cost of things. Having a large family is expensive and I like to teach my children all about that. Anything I can do to fight the feeling of entitlement in our children is a done deal for me.

Who has the Simple Birthday Parties?

Everyone in the family has simple, family birthday parties including my husband and me. We both enjoy just simply being with our family as we become a year older.

Now, we have made an exception to this simple party rule this past year when Sam turned sixteen. Because it is such a landmark birthday, we allowed him to have a party with friends. We made a new rule which will allow everyone to have a “friend” birthday party on their sixteenth birthday.

When Do We Celebrate the Birthday?

We have always celebrated them on the day of their actual birthday. We clear the schedule so we have time for our festivities. Sometimes if we have something that can’t be rearranged, we will plan our party during the day instead of the evening.

How Do We Celebrate the Birthdays?

Here’s the fun part! Just because we don’t have a big shindig doesn’t mean we don’t have a huge celebration that makes the family member feel special and loved. They get the following perks:

• No Chores
• Special Breakfast
• Gift
• No School
• Pick Dinner and Dessert
• Homemade Cards
• Pick Privileges for the Day
• Birthday Song

No Chores

They get to pick whether or not they want to do their chores. Now, I’m with you in saying this is pretty much a slam dunk decision but you would be surprised! For a couple of years, we had a kiddo who loved doing his chore so much he insisted on doing them on his birthday. Just last year, he finally decided to let others do it for him.

If they chose to not do chores then they are divided among the siblings and me so they get to enjoy a day off.

Special Breakfast

Sam, age 16, fixes the birthday girl or boy a special breakfast of their choice. When it’s my birthday, it includes breakfast and a special latte in bed. Yes, he spoils us!

The kiddos usually choose eggs cooked the way they like them, sausage and toast. Sam is known for his breakfast and so this is a special treat for everyone!

Gift

They receive a gift from the whole family and we have a twenty-dollar budget per child to work with. As they have gotten older, they have the choice to receive the money to spend on their own at a later date or they can pick what they want to get. If they are younger, my husband and I chose what their gift will be while the siblings may offer ideas,

They receive their gift at the family dinner on their birthday even if they know what it is. A little anticipation never hurt anyone!

No School

Not having school is a big hit with the whole family and everyone has a reason to celebrate. It creates an air of excitement as they anticipate a whole day of free time.

There have been years when I wasn’t able to accommodate this particular perk. I always decide at the beginning of the year so that it is the same and fair for everyone. When you have seven kids, it could mean that seven days would be missed and if that is just not feasible then I need to make that decision first thing.

Pick Dinner and Dessert

This is the highlight of it all! They get to pick what is being served to everyone for dinner and dessert on their birthday. This gives them the chance to have all their favorite things and we have had some unique combinations. For the last couple of years, the middles and littles have chosen things like pizza and macaroni and cheese.

However, we are seeing a shift this year as they are choosing things they like. Nikki just turned six and she chose tuna fish sandwiches with tomato soup. For her dessert, she chose a chocolate cake with strawberry frosting and strawberry ice cream.

I was especially grateful for her cheap meal when I received Andy’s birthday dinner menu: Grilled Steak, Butterfly Shrimp, Salad, and Garlic Cheese Biscuits. His dessert choice is Banana Cream Pie. Rick and I had to laugh as we realized they are getting older and more expensive!

Homemade Cards

All their siblings make homemade cards with all of the birthday kid’s favorite things. They like to print coloring pages of their favorite cartoon characters or superheroes and then write special messages to the birthday kiddo. It really is a sweet time as they give their customized artwork away. Everyone feels special!

Pick Privileges for the Day

Okay, so what are pick privileges? We have a rotating schedule of who gets to pick what they watch or what game they are going to play so that everyone gets a turn and it is fair. If you are the birthday kid you get to pick all the things for that day. That’s a pretty big deal!

This is the day once a year that we get to celebrate that particular kiddo! I always try to remind them how much we love them and what a special gift they are to our family. God gave them to us and I want them to know what a treasure it is to see them grow up.

Birthday Song

We sing them the most beautiful version of the Happy Birthday song! I mean it’s just gorgeous because we are so talented! Just kidding! It’s the opposite, we sing the most obnoxious way possible! It’s awful but it’s fun and the kids look forward to it.

The Challenges of Having a Large Family

As you can see, simple doesn’t have to be boring! However, when you can reduce stress, things are much more enjoyable! Thank you for reading! We appreciate you!