Birthdays are changing for us.

This year I have noticed a big change in how we have celebrated my girls birthdays. Becky is 20 now and Ellie is 15. Where has the time gone? Years ago it used to be all about toys, surprises, a day out, a party tea and of course cake but now they are getting older birthdays are changing for us.

We knew this year was going to be different as Becky is now working and is of course earning her own money. Anything that she wants now she buys herself which makes it harder to buy birthday presents and plus there's the fact that she is on a full time wage so it doesn't seem right spending the same amount on her that we used to. All of her presents were surprises for Becky and there wasn't as many of them. I always said when she hit 18 she wouldn't be getting the same amount of money spent on her as Ellie but it's took me a couple of years to actually go through with it. She had some great presents and I made sure to buy things that she hadn't thought of buying herself but things I knew she'd love. Friends bedding, prints in frames for her bedroom, some hoodies and a Friends Build a Bear.

Ellie chose most of her own birthday presents and knew about them beforehand. She would have been happy with just getting clothes but I don't think all clothes for your birthday is much fun. She ended up with a smart watch, lots of books, a fancy alarm clock and I think the only surprises were the Amazon Firestick and Yungblud Funko figure. Every time she had looked at the Funko it was out of stock so I feel like I did well to get it. 

In past years we have always had a day out or have done something special at home but with Ellie's birthday being on a Bank Holiday there was no going out, the buses are ribbish here. The last time Ellie had her birthday on a bank holiday we had a beach birthday party in the back yard but this year she said she wasn't fussed about doing anything and just wanted to chill which was fine with me. My dad and his partner came for a visit and that was the biggest excitement of the day, well apart from the huge Chinese takeaway that we got.

Becky wasn't fussed about doing much for her birthday either and just wanted a quiet day at home until she decided that we should all go to the pub to play pool before she met up with friends. We of course got another huge takeaway and had a family night in front of the TV watching the latest Thor film.

Another thing which has changed for the girls birthdays is that they always used to get 2 cakes. One chocolate and one vanilla sponge, just supermarket one's but this year I told them just to pick one! What a hard decision that was for them. For Becky I ended up choosing hers as she couldn't decide between two. lol

As much as I enjoyed this new way of doing birthdays I do miss all the toys, a day out and party tea but this way sure is a lot less stressful. I am saying birthdays are changing for us but next year it's big birthdays for my girls, Becky's 21st and Ellie's 16th. Where has the time gone?!

How has birthdays changed as your children have got older?