Waldorf Birthday Traditions by Suzanne
One topic close to my heart is celebrating and honoring the passage of Birth. This Waldorf celebration is practiced in our home year after year. We believe traditions bring foundation. It promotes stability. Traditions give our children a link to their past and a foundation for their future.
We start our Birthday preparation the night before one of our children change age. This Waldorf Birthday tradition comes in the form of a verse. A dim flickering candle sets the tone for the happy event the following morning. I have found one special candle I use and it is brought out for celebrations in the home.
When I have said my evening prayer,And my clothes are folded on my chair,
And Mother/Father switches off the light,
I’ll still be__years old tonight.
But form the very break of day,
Before the children rise and play,
Before the darkness turns to gold,
Tomorrow, I’ll be __ years old….
__kisses when I wake,
__candles on my cake.
Cozy and secure they go to sleep. The tradition we have embraced is to sing to the child until she wakes. Every year I have composed a song and played it on the piano. A song of their very own. This is one tradition they love.
There are so many ways we have celebrated. Our special tradition is giving the Birthday child kisses and wishes. Their Daddy then takes hold of that little pair of hands and the little one jumps out of the bed one year older. A long golden ribbon is then tied gently around their wrist and the child then finds her way to her birthday throne having followed the ribbon.
10 Responses
Very inspiring, thanks so much!
Oh what a lovely, lovely post about birthday celebration! How magical and reverent. Thank you so much for sharing. I just love visiting your blog and always leave inspired and with a smile on my face. Well done!
Hugs,
Jen
wow this is such a beautiful way to celebrate a birthday, Annabella will be turning a year soon so I am always looking for new ideas, and traditions to start
Sounds like a beautiful way to celebrate birthdays.
Lovely. I’ve never seen the Birthday book. That looks like something I’d love to add to my personal library.
This is so beautiful! We are new to the world of Waldorf and I intend to start and keep traditions like this. I can only imagine how absolutely special it makes the birthday child feel!
I thoroughly LOVE this post. Thank you! I need this book. This year… well, actually… let me clarify…
My youngest daughter was born ON her big brother’s birthday last August. We weren’t prepared at all… she was 2 weeks and 5 days late (so we thought she was going to be with us MUCH earlier!)
Anyway, so we decided to wait until his half birthday and I bought a birthday ring for making the day special and giving special attention to EACH child on their birthdays. I love the idea of the poem the night before and thew waking to the crown and cards. I may do it a little differently having two children born on the same day… we’ll see. Thank you for all the inspirations here on your blog! Love it!
Thanks so much for the birthday ideas. Having twins (and they are each girls born just a few days before Winter Solstice) it is a struggle to make birthdays special.
this gave me shivers! I am getting ready to celebrate my son’s first birthday in less than a month….thank you for the inspiration!
Thank you for sharing this Suzanne! What a wonderful entry! Our student in our school have just celebrated her birthday, we’d like to share your article to our friends too (and we hope you don’t mind if we link back your article here). Thank you so much for the birthday ideas.
Love and light,
Sofia Waldorf-inspired School