How to Make Your Tween's Birthday Memorable Even in a Failing Economy

That age between little child and teenager is a rough time for most children. It's a time when kids are dealing with new fluctuations of hormones, and testing the limits of their parents and world around them. They still need the rules and structure they had when small children, but are eager to test out their individuality and independence. It can be hard to have the right kind of birthday for a child in their tweenage years especially with money so tight. They aren't interested in the less expensive toys anymore. They want computers and cell phones, expensive game systems and designer clothing. Making sure your child in his tween years is difficult on its own, but when finances are tight, it really becomes dicey. There are options, however.

When our son hit his tweens we started offering choices for his birthday. He could have a party within limits with a larger gift or he could have a trip with a smaller gift. For example, we knew that our son wanted to go to the beach, and we knew he wanted a phone. My husband and I looked at the prices of the phone and of the trip, and they came to about the same price. Of course we didn't want to tell him what his gift was, so we simply told him he could have a trip to the beach as his major gift, or he could have a small party of about 4 or 5 of his closest friends with a larger, nicer gift. He chose to have a camp out in the back yard with a larger gift. He said it was a birthday he would never forget. He appreciated being allowed to choose. It made him feel more grown up, and did not prick that new male ego forming.

If your pocketbook is smaller than usual and even a trip would be out of the question, then a trip to a nearby amusement park, a special place like an aquarium, hands on museum, or a show that interests your child would work wonderfully too. Just come up with several options and present them to your child. She will appreciate her newly found "power" of choice, and will take the invitation seriously. She may even ask you if she can have some time to think on it.

Being given the option of how to spend his birthday will something your child will always remember. He'll think back on it as a time when he felt like he was truly growing up.