Eden and Xen’s Quarantine Birthday Celebration

Yesterday, Eden and Xen turned double digits, the big 1-0! We had been working on party plans for months prior to being given the stay-at-home order in our state of Florida.

When Eden realized she was not going to be able to have her spa birthday sleepover, there were some pretty big tears and it took her a bit to accept that a sleepover just wasn’t happening.

I know when they are older they are going to remember “the year the coronavirus kept them from having a party”, but my goal was for it not to be the year the coronavirus ruined their 10th birthday.” So for the last three weeks, my mission has been to figure out how to make their birthday special while being quarantined.

Giving the Kids Creative Control of the Day

We decided to give the kids creative control of how they would spend their birthday…at home of course. It gave them the sense that although they can not control the world around them, they were in charge of how their day played out. Each of them came up with a wishlist of things they would like to do and eat before the day was over which included playing numerous board games, calls with friends and family, and more.

I added one item to the list, there would be no virtual school, unless they wanted to. Of course one kid took me up on that offer but the other actually decided to do a little school work.

A Birthday Scavenger Hunt

The day started with a birthday scavenger hunt. I created ten different clues for each of them so there was no overlapping of locations throughout the house and I wasn’t going to hear the words “that was my clue.”

On the eve of their birthday, I hid the riddle clues I had created, with dollar bills attached to each clue so they would be ready to go first thing in the morning.

Once they had found all of the clues, they would also have as many dollars as their new age, ten. The birthday scavenger hunt was a hit and a great way for them to pass some time, have some fun and earn a little extra birthday cash.

Here is a short video of how our scavenger hunt began:

Virtual Birthday Party

Since most of our family lives up north, virtual get togethers have been a norm for us. Zoom is a great free platform that is fairly easy to use. Even my seventy-five year old mother-in-law was able to join in for the virtual birthday party. I also like Google Meetups which is how the kids met with their friends for a separate virtual birthday party.

Although it isn’t the same as a face to face, the kids really enjoyed family and friends singing Happy Birthday to them.

Birthday Dinner

One of the easiest ways for me to make their day special was through food…at least that was the plan. I love to cook so when they asked for steak, chocolate cake, and pumpkin pie, I thought it was going to be super easy. Unfortunately, with many local grocery stores being out of stock of many items, especially meats, this became more challenging than I thought.

Fortunately, one of their favorite restaurants, Texas Roadhouse offers family meal packs that are available for curbside pickup. This was such a treat because not only did they get their favorite foods for their birthday dinner but it was the first time we had take-out since the stay-at-home order had begun.

Let them Eat Cake…or Pie!

I have always appreciated Eden and Xen’s individuality so when Xen asked for a pumpkin pie as opposed to a traditional cake, of course, I said yes. Although it wasn’t traditional, it was really fun to offer them whatever would bring them the most happiness, and if that is pie then so be it.

Who knew pumpkin pies are so hard to find off season? Fortunately, canned pumpkin was not hard to find and I love to bake.

By the end of the day, we were exhausted from a full day of activities and relly stuffed bellies. There were no tears the entire day for what they were missing out on by being stuck at home with only their parents and all in all Eden and Xen’s quarantine birthday celebration was a great success.

Has your child had to celebrate a birthday at home while being stuck at home? Share your experience below!