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Making Dad’s Birthday Special: for $10 or less

Birthdays are a big deal in my husband’s family. Everyone calls with birthday wishes and Happy Birthday is sung before the Polish song, Sto lat. I love that they have so many traditions that make every birthday special and I would like to have some of our own traditions.

We started one for my husband’s birthday last week. At 3 years old, Jackson understands birthdays and anyone who has a 3-year-old will tell you “threenagers” have a mind of their own. I want to encourage his independence so I let him pick out his Dad’s birthday presents “all by himself” (“all by myself” is said a LOT around here).

I told him he can spend $5 on presents from himself and help Sidney spend $5 for Dad’s birthday. We went to our local Dollar Tree, where everything is $1, and I let Jackson pick out 10 items.

It was a great exercise in counting and budgeting. I gave him a $10 bill and we talked about how we could afford to buy 10 things (he’s a little young to talk about taxes, so I paid for those).

proud.jpg

We had so much fun going around the store and hearing him exclaim “Daddy LOVES mouses” when he picked out a mouse piggy bank or “Dad LOVES turkeys” when he found a small rooster figurine. The other store shoppers had huge grins listening to him pick out special gifts. Here is what Jackson (& Sidney) picked out for their Dad’s birthday:

  • mouse piggy bank
  • 2 different eagle figurines
  • a rooster figurine
  • plush basketball
  • bobble head cat
  • dice collection
  • pink foam hand
  • rubber bands
  • 2 magic towels
  • assorted candy

We went over our $10 budget, so I told Jackson I would pay for a couple of things with my own money. We bought gift bags for $1 and wrapped  up the dollar store “haul” to give to their Dad during his birthday dinner. Jackson couldn’t wait for him to open up his “special” birthday presents.We bought a foam board for $1 and colored a GIANT greeting card to decorate the dinner table.

dollarstore.jpg

I plan to make this a birthday tradition for the our and let them go on a Dollar Tree “shopping spree” for family birthdays. Jackson couldn’t have been prouder of his gifts and my husband said it was the best birthday ever. I love that it was very budget-friendly and taught my preschooler about how good it feels to give gifts from the heart.

Comments

  4. Every year our elementary school has a holiday shop with items from Dollar Tree. It is Ben and Sydney’s favorite part of Xmas: to bring home wrapped presents that they picked out and paid for all by themselves. I should let them do this for birthdays too — I tend to Type A my way through it by doing all the shopping and then telling the kids what they got for my husband or parents right before we give it!

  5. Oh my goodness- I love it! So creative. I was wondering if you would post his gifts from your Sat laughs! Jackson did a great job! Happy Bday to your hubby!

  7. Love this!!! Definitely starting it with my little one when she reaches the age where she “gets it”. Thank you for sharing!

  9. That is so cute! They love the empowerment of making their own decisions. They had a Christmas boutique at my son’s school and he got to shop for the family. It was so cute to hear why he chose each thing. 🙂

  11. what a freakin’ awesome idea. i’m totally stealing this. i always say, “ok, you guys can pick a gift out for daddy,” and we’ll be at target and they pick a $35 gift each. and a $20 cake from the market. i need to step up my game. thanks for this! greg must have had such a special day. 🙂

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