Our family loves to celebrate birthdays, but we do it in some unusual ways. My youngest daughter just turned seven, and her birthday celebration was quite typical for our family. We don’t usually have large, elaborate parties. In fact, we typically allow the kids to invite three or four friends to go to a play or a movie and then out for a treat afterwards. We also have a separate party for close family which may include sledding in the snow or playing in the sprinkler, depending on the time of year. And for the family members that are not able to be with us to celebrate, they often call on the phone during the party to let the birthday girl know she is being thought of. Yes, this is all pretty normal birthday behavior.

But our family has some unusual rituals as well. In our house, the day before your birthday is pinch day (yes, you are allowed to pinch the person – gently), the day of your birthday is spank day (one spank for every year – gently), and the day after your birthday is kiss day. Some of us enjoy “kiss day” more than others!

Another unusual ritual is “butter on the nose”. Allow me to explain. At some point during the birthday party, a family member gets a finger-full of butter (yes, the kind you put on your toast) and attempts to smear the butter on the birthday girl’s (or boy’s) nose. Strange, I know. None of us really likes having butter smeared on our noses, but we would be very hurt if the family forgot this little ritual. A birthday is not a birthday unless a terribly bad picture has been taken of you with butter smeared all over your face!

Tags : birthday rituals, family