To be perfectly honest with you, something was bothering me a bit. Ethan's Birthday present from his Dad and I was a little toy truck. Granted, it's a cool truck, that lights up, makes noises, and even has a tiny car that rides in the 'truck bed' that you can get out & play with too, but I guess it just bothered me that this was all we could afford to get him for his first Birthday.
I'm not a materialistic person, but in the past I have always spent more on gifts for other people's birthdays or for their kids. So, a $20 truck didn't seem like very much. Granted, the party was an added expense as well, but it didn't seem like much to give him when I want to give him the world.
Money is tight, with costs increasing due to inflation & my pay actually decreasing (5% paycut awhile back to the entire agency I work for because 'the economy is bad' and they 'need to cut costs'). So, we did what we could. But I felt like it wasn't enough. Granted, Ethan has everything he NEEDS all of the time, but it would be nice to be able to do more.
August 15 was Ethan's actual Birthday. On his Birthday, Will & I took the day off & decided to utilize our Toledo Zoo membership & spend the day at the Zoo with him. Will wasn't as excited as I was about the 'Zoo' idea, but the fact that we have a membership makes it fun & free, so it won out in the end. Besides, Ethan loves the Zoo!
We had an amazing day.
All of our other Zoo trips this year were fun as well, but we arrived there later in the afternoon (usually Will has picked the kids up for the weekend before we went - Ethan has three half siblings that he see's on the weekends). This time we were able to arrive early in the morning and spent 7 hours at the Zoo.
First Train Ride!
We saw all of the animals (some we visited more then once!), took Ethan on his first carousel ride, took him on his first train ride, and even walked through the flowery gardens for quite awhile & let Ethan run around & look at all of the flowers (he LOVES flowers!).
We played on the playground with Ethan and, with me putting him on the slide & Will at the bottom to catch him, he even got to go down all the slides & explore different areas of the playground that he hadn't gotten to before. And this little boy even climbed onto the end of the slide - by himself - and started to try & walk up the slide before Mommy got too nervous & stopped him! Not only is he running around everywhere now, he is climbing on anything he can!
On our way home we stopped at my parents house for dinner, and since Ethan has grown so fond of 'lawnmower rides' on their riding mower, we zoomed him around their yard for a bit during our visit. (Although... he wasn't quite ready to be done when we were & climbed up into the drivers seat by himself, trying to turn the steering wheel & started messing with the keys!)
Once home we relaxed and let him play before bed. He has got in the habit of 'picking out' what books he wants us to read & brings them to us now before climbing onto our laps instead of us picking out all the books. I LOVE this, and it makes me excited that he is so excited about reading.
After reading various books, he was playing with some of his new toys on the floor. Out of all of the new toys he received as Birthday gifts, he picked out one special little truck and was carrying it around everywhere, rolling it across the carpet, laughing when it played music or made engine sounds, and even put it on my lap before he climbed up.
I no longer feel 'bad' about getting him 'just' a little truck for his Birthday. I picked out a toy within my means that I thought my son would love... and he does. As long as he is happy & healthy, why should the cost of a Birthday present matter to me? It shouldn't. Seeing him play, enjoy himself, and hearing his giggle means more to me then all the money in the world.
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