If your children were born at a similar time of year, it can be both a blessing and a curse. In many ways it's nice as they share a special 'birthday season' and when one has their birthday, the other knows that they don't have to wait too long until it's theirs. However, it can also be a bit of a nightmare logistically, especially when it comes to parties. Kids parties can be stressful to organise and expensive too, and doing two in a short space of time might not be something your budget (or sanity) can handle. Celebrating each birthday individually but having a combined party might be your best bet, it saves you having to pay twice, sort invites twice and have friends and relatives come and visit twice which might not be possible with busy lives, especially if they live far away. You might have pondered the idea of a joint party but wrote it off thinking that it would be too tricky or just not feel special enough for each child. But if you go about it the right way, it could be the solution to your party problems! Here are some ideas for making it work, so that each child feels special.
Finding Common Ground With the Theme
If your children are close in age and/ or the same gender then this might be easy. If they're into the same things then choosing something they'll both love will be a breeze. If not, you might have to get creative with combinations. How about 'dragons and mermaids' for a boy/ girl combination? Or a gaming theme for two kids with a bigger age gap, but combine the two different types of gaming they each enjoy. If you can't agree on a specific theme then going with typical fun decorations like colourful balloons, banners and games will pretty much suit most children at a wide range of ages that they and their friends will all enjoy.
Honouring Each Child
While the party might be combined, there are plenty of ways you can honour each individual child. You could have two separate cakes, or a large cake split into two with their chosen theme on each side. If you're creative you could do this yourself, otherwise a baker will have plenty of fun putting this together for you. You could sing happy birthday separately, and have some different games, activities or entertainers to suit each child and their friends. If for example one child is a baby and the other is older, hiring some soft play items for the little ones and a bouncy castle fore the bigger ones will be fun for everyone.
Get Then Excited About the Idea of Sharing
Birthdays are personal to us, and so celebrating each child's actual birthday date with presents, activities and fun things they enjoy is no bad thing. But when it comes to the shared party, get them excited about the idea of sharing. A sibling is a friend for life, and this party is something they can enjoy together each year and having special memories all through their childhood. Show them that it's a brilliant thing to share their party, and by doing so you can make it bigger, better and more exciting!
