Just when I thought I had figured out how to put the appropriate amount of time and thought into my wife’s birthday gift (after five years of marriage!), we had a baby boy and it forever added complexity to the birthday gift planning process.
Not only was I expected to give a thoughtful gift in celebration of another awesome year of life, but I also needed to give her something meaningful from our son.
Boaz was almost three-months-old when my wife’s birthday came around. I picked out a couple great gifts that I’d give her but with a week until her birthday, I was still clueless for what Boaz could give.
One afternoon I was watching him while my wife ran a few errands. I had a couple phone calls and, during one of the calls, he started crying. The only thing within reach to hand him was a fountain pen. It distracted him long enough for me to finish the call, which is about the time I realized he had somehow managed to get it open. Of course, he had ink all over his hands. (There may or may not have been ink around his mouth.)
I changed his diaper and got the ink off his body without too much trouble, but the fingerprints on his pack-and-play were much harder to get rid of. As I was scrubbing the ink off, the idea hit me.
A few minutes later, Boaz and I created a simple but touching birthday card for mommy that she would cherish forever with items we already had in our home.
Supplies:
- birthday card,
- pencil
- marker
- ink stamp pad
Cost:
- $0-5, depending on what you already have at home
Time:
- 5 minutes
Instructions:
Write “Happy Birthday Mommy!” in light pencil on the card. Press your child’s finger on the ink pad and then press it down over all the round shapes in the happy birthday message. I used fingerprints for the “a”, “p”, and “p” in Happy and for the “B”, “i”,“d”, and “a” in Birthday. The “o” in mommy and the exclamation point were also formed with Boaz’s fingerprints. Fill in the rest of the letters with the marker and help your child sign it. (Check out the photo if this seems confusing.)
The card was a big hit with mommy and she was grateful I put the extra thought into having Boaz make something special for her. She even posted it on the fridge, the ultimate mark of a great gift.
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Like her birthday, Mother’s Day presents all kinds of opportunities to exercise your #dadcraft with your kids.
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Picture by Jiří Wagner; Used via Unsplash license.