Frugal Birthday Lessons

Grandpa's birthday gave us the chance to teach our grandchildren some frugal lessons. We don't preach to the kids, we simply show them by example. We can have a fun birthday without unnecesay extras - at our age anyway.
Lesson 1 - You don't need decorations. When the kids arrived yesterday the first thing Beth asked was "Where are the balloons?" I explained that we didn't need them - not for us anyway. I am not a meanie and advocate no decorations for children. Beth and Wullie will have balloons, decorations and birthday paper plates for their next parties but Charles & Di will purchase them at the dollar store. It is possible to decorate on the cheap and save a lot of money.
Lesson 2 - It's fun to make your own birthday cards. No need to go to the store for a card. Over the years I have collected quite a few rubber stamps finding them at garage sales, dollar stores, etc. I also have plenty of crayons & markers. This past week the kids opted to use just the stamps for their cards. What was more fun than making the card, was presenting their creations to Grandpa - they were proud of their work and of course loved the praise they received for their efforts.
Lesson 3 - You don't need a lot of presents. The only presents Grandpa had to open were the ones Beth and Wullie brought. Beth felt sorry for Grandpa that he didn't have more. But we explained that the two were wonderful - Grandpa got new socks and hankies - what a lucky Grandpa he was! (Actually Junior renewed his subscription to Scottish Life magazine and since we needed a new bed for the kids room we ordered it over the weekend. Like I posted earlier - if it's something we need, that becomes the perfect present). Charles and Di would have spent more on a present but Grandpa simply didn't need anything else.
Lesson 4 - You don't need a birthday cake - pie works just as well. I think the kids were a bit disappointed that I didn't have at least some cupcakes to go along with the pie. But they still had the fun of blowing out the one lonely candle a few times. And of course we sang "Happy Birthday".
Lesson 5 - You don't need to play games. I was quite surprised when Beth asked if we were going to play games. She has been to a few parties for her little friends so this was a sensible question. It's just that it never entered my head that the kids would expect this. I explained that instead of games they were going to do something very special with Daddy and Grandpa instead - they went sledding. They love getting out in the snow and we have the perfect hill not far from our cottage - they had a great time.
Lifetime Lesson - Over the years the grandkids will realize that birthday celebrations are all about family. Just being together, and sharing that special day. You don't need the fancy extras to have fun. All you need is to share the love.