Why We Don't Do Birthday Parties Anymore.
[bctt tweet=”I became very career oriented and was determined to give my family a life worth dreaming over. @NickPoche”]
Someone once told me (or I saw it in a meme) that you call always make money, but you can’t always make memories. It’s a very simple concept but a very true one. If you are anything like me you very easily find yourself caught up in the day to day grind of life and distracted from what matters the most. Like most, our families are our number one priority in life and we will do anything to provide them with the best life possible. I often find myself however focused on the wrong path to do just that. Don’t get me wrong money is important but, it isn’t everything. Before we had kids this was a philosophy I very much believed in, but somehow lost sight of once our children we born. Suddenly I wanted them to have everything and would stop at nothing to give it to them. I became very career oriented and was determined to give my family a life worth dreaming over. My kids wanted for nothing. Like most we went overboard for Christmases and birthdays. We put them in all the activities that all of their friends were in so they wouldn’t be missing out on anything. If you ask me or my children they would tell you they had a great life and they did. Each passing year brought them another round of new toys and over the top birthday parties. But as my oldest son was getting ready to turn seven I strongly began to struggle with the fact that he was getting older. Our window of him being able to just be a kid was rapidly shrinking ,and I was freaking out about it. I had spent the previous year at work most everyday to give my kids a life that I was missing out on all so they could have more toys that we could donate to Goodwill later on. Something had to change because their was no way I was going to let myself become the father who looked back in regret on spending too much time at work. I most certainly didn’t want my kids to grow up without fond memories of their dad from their childhood. It was then and there that me and Tiffany decided to take a step back and reevaluate how we were handling this. Both my oldest son and my daughter had birthdays coming up (7 and 5), but this year was not going to be our typical celebration. This year we would shock everyone and decide not to have a party at all other than a small family celebration on their actual birthdays. That’s right, no party, no decorations, no big presents. Fear not, you can stop dialing Child Social Services on me. This year was going to be new. Instead of a party we were going to take the money we would have spent on two parties and create a different kind of tradition. We wanted our kids to look back on their childhood and remember more than presents, we wanted them to remember great experiences. After careful planning we decided we would take the kids on a Disney Cruise. At first I feared we would receive some backlash from the kids, but they loved the idea of it. As time grew closer they became more and more excited about the idea. Not sure of how much they would really do on a boat we opted for a 4 day Cruise on the Disney Magic out of Port Canaveral, Florida and would follow it up with a couple of days in the Magic Kingdom on the way back home since we would be so close to the park. This turned out to be one of the kids favorite trips we have ever taken. They often ask when we will get to go on another Cruise like that again and not once did they miss the parties and all the presents. Instead of filling their lives with material things(which they still get their fair share of), we are filling their lives with memories. For right now we are keeping the trips pretty simple and very kid/family friendly. In addition to the Cruise and the Bahamas, we have also taken them to New York City. This was a hard trip to take with kids but an experience that will live with them and us forever. In such a short time our family has created memories that will last a lifetime, but this in fact just the beginning. As our children grow so will the vacations. Our plan is to expose our children to new experiences, different cultures, and some of the most scenic views this world has to offer. Their is a whole great big world out there and when my kids one day step out into it I want it to be filled with great experiences and even better memories. I often get asked why we go to Disney so much, and the answer is quite simple. I’d rather spend my time and money on great family memories with my children than other less important things that will one day be forgotten. And while today it is Disney tomorrow it will be the world.
[bctt tweet=”This year we would shock everyone and decide not to have a party at all @Nickpoche”]
Nick Poche’
Avid Disney fan, husband to Tiffany, father of three, Brock, Bailey, and Brennan. Lover of travel and blogger for the We Dream of Disney and Beyond Blog.