A Life Moment : The Cost of a Meaningful Birthday Gift

It was my son’s second birthday yesterday.

In thinking about how to celebrate it my partner and I explored options including what gifts🎁 to get him and how to spend the day with him. 

Last year for his first birthday my partner was excited to buy him a lot of toys. He is my partners first child, and my second, so understandable that his first birthday was a new and important first experience for him.

This year however, I offered that it didn’t seem like my son needed any more toys. He is still growing into toys he’s been gifted in the past year from his first birthday and christmas.

My partner then said what if we give him an “experience”? And I just loved that. He did some research about what we could do and we decided to take the little guy to the Aquarium 🐠 where we knew we could spend a few hours exploring together.

Upon waking up yesterday my son stated “I’m excited to go in the train.” 🚂 which felt like his way of telling us what he wanted to do. So we sought out the Hamley’s Train at the V&A Waterfront to fulfill his desire.

We also got him a pack of those small metal cars 🏎, as this is something he doesn’t have and is now ready for as he’s starting to play imaginatively now. 

All in all. 🤩 What a fun day!

We used our money to amplify the connection we have with each other, our son and our family (my daughter and Granny joined too)!

We balanced spending money on experiences vs stuff.

The little guy went to bed holding his five little cars and woke up happy and excited to play with them this morning. 😊

🌱 How are you spending your money to amplify what you value?

Spending your money in alignment with what brings meaning, sparks joy and is important to you makes for a satisfying and fulfilling Life.

This piece of writing was first shared on Mary J’s LinkedIn profile on Monday 2nd May 2022.