How can I make my sons birthday better?

[Permenantlyexhaustedpidgeon]

My Ds is going to be 8 this week, and so far he’s having a really rubbish time of it.

We have cancelled his birthday party as people kept dropping out, we have cancelled the holiday we were going on in Easter holls, his dad is abroad and hasn’t visited. He was due at a sporting event tonight and it’s been called off. He is SO sad.

He says he doesn’t want any presents as he got everything he wanted at christmas.

I know it’s selfish to worry about him when people have bigger things going on, but I’m just so sad for him. He’s been badly bullied at school lately, and it just feels like I need to make this special for him somehow, and I genuinely don’t know where to begin!

Please can I have some suggestions how I can make him feel special, when he’s had so much disappointment

Finances etc permitting:
Let him choose favourite meal for dinner (DD would be delighted to have a thai take away, a very rare treat)
Have a movie night, Amazon prime/Netflix/sky etc
Would he be keen to go out somewhere this evening? Eg dark skies, penny machines in the pier depending where you live obvs, something he wouldn't normally get to do.
I think the main thing is to spend time with him and make everything about him for a day.

A special birthday take away meal of his choosing maybe? delivered to home,

Why did people drop out? Would some be able to come to a small party at home?
Could you do a virtual holiday at home, camping in the back garden, barbecues, ball games , mini beach with play sand, mocktails, ice cream etc?
DS’s 8th birthday is the week after, and so far only 3 have RSVPed yes, not sure if it’s due to corona or if they just haven’t got round to it yet. Worst case scenario i’ll arrange a 4 hour long remote party on roblox with his friends if everyone cancels (will collect user names via all parents whose numbers I have and ask them to let their kids join in in lieu of a party) buy takeaway pizza, pop and ice cream and let him either pass the party bags out at school or keep them to himself if school’s shut! Might add in a family sleepover in the lounge with midnight feast for added excitement (he has 3 siblings, a dog and me so plenty of company!)

Aw poor thing. Its. Not selfish at all to worry about him and want him to have a happy birthday.

I wish I had some better ideas but I think just make it all about him. Like PPs said.
Let him choose how to spend the day and what to have for tea.

I hope he has a fab day

Fill the house with balloons and banners and streamers.

Make a triple layered cake, or sonething massive. Do a treasure hunt for him. Turn the living room into a cinema and have a giant thing of popcorn and watch a birthday movie. Make knickerbocker glories covered in sprinkles and sauce and mini marshmallows. Get a pizza.

Play stupid party games. Do a pass the parcel for the two of you, pin the tail on the donkey, have a disco,

It's my birthday this week and it's so damned flat. But I'm not 8! Bless him, eh?

Ah, not silly at all to worry about this. How about you do a birthday week. Each day a surprise. Day one, sweeties hidden around the house and he has to track them down, day 2 breakfast for dinner (like pancakes or something like that) day 3 obstacle course in the park/garden with a mate, day 4 make a band and record a song/ video of it.

That sort of thing, a little surprise treat each day that suits his personality and what he likes

Happy birthday @DonPablo! 💐

I would be sad for him too.Would it he like it if loads of Mumsnetters sent him cards?i would happily send!

Though thinking about it maybe that’s a Coronavirus nightmare bloody virus😡

Ah, thanks @Igglepigglesgrubbyblanket. A significant one too! But dh will make me a cocktail or two, I'll be flat and pissed!

Poor thing - it's so hard to understand it all at that age. Does he have a special friend who would come for a birthday tea? Could you choose somewhere special that he would like to go when all this has blown over so he's got something to look forward to?

I've just cancelled my holiday - was due to fly out to the sun tomorrow and spend my birthday there but it was not to be, so we shall do something low key in the UK instead.

What was he going to do for the party? Is it something you could replicate at home or through presents?

2 of my kids have birthdays coming up. I haven't booked parties for them or anything, I just don't know what to do. I don't think we will even have birthday tea with the grandparents because they are so vulnerable.
I like the ideas of going overboard with a massive cake and all of their favourite food and drinks, maybe we'll spread the presents out throughout the day if we're at home, somewhere I have an air horn thing, don't ask why, so I could sound the air horn at random times of the day and there will be another present, could hide the presents for them to find, I don't know.
It is rubbish.

Not selfish at all. It's my DS's birthday too, and it will also be very small, but we hadn't got much planned, and he's a bit younger. We're going to have as good a party as we can just with the four of us - we're thinking about making our own costumes for it as a bit of an activity. The only other thing we're going to do is make it clear that his main celebration is being postponed, rather than cancelled. When this stupid virus eventually subsides, we'll plan a bigger party or day trip. Happy Birthday to your DS!

I would talk to the parents of one or two of his closest friends and see if you can arrange something with just them. So instead of a big party, he has three friends over for takeaway or a trip to pizza express or something. We're not at the stage where we're being told to avoid everyone and everything so I'd take the opportunity while you can for a trip out or movie with his buddies.

DS will be 7 in a month. I hadn't got round to sorting a party yet, and I have told him that we will do it when things are more certain. That's obviously not the same as having plans fall through (although I've had that when he was little as falling around Easter shifting around makes it much harder to anticipate people's busyness; my Christmas child is much simpler!) We've booked a cottage in the UK that falls over his birthday around Easter so hopefully that should be viable...

He will still enjoy presents even if he's not excited. Balloons, presents, cards should perk him up when the time comes, and a more sociable celebration when life settles a bit should coincide with better weather and be something to look forwards too.

I'm getting flashbacks to my dull 9th when I was off school with Chicken Pox, DF was away, and the excitement of Shrove Tuesday evaporated after a greasy pancake came back to meet the bucket. Time makes it all better

Kids love to feel special, and silly. Decorate his room with balloons, make a leaning tower cake decorated with the entire shelf of the sweetie aisle at Tesco, make him do a treasure hunt for his present, including corona virus clues.

Take lots of pictures, to show him that even the mundane is worth remembering. Including a picture of him washing his hands and singing happy birthday as the govt advises.

Dont hide from the pandemic, make it a part of it so hes reminded that his day is different, not worse.

Drag a mattress downstairs, make a blanket fort and watch his favourite film with some hot popcorn and nachos, let him stay up till late and fall asleep with you, and give him a hug from all of us mumsnetters.

Am here to steal ideas because my youngest turns 7 in 2 weeks and we had planned to take him and 3 friends to a big soft play place.

I did think about a cinema night, turning the living room into a cinema and watching whatever he chooses (I'm praying it's not pokemon!)

Loving the "birthday week" and the knickerbocker glory idea, that's right up his street.

Thanks!

My ds turned 8 last week. His baby brother he chicken pox, my dh has to be sent away as he has never had it and is in a risk group and I was ill myself. It was awful. In the end I in a panic called his best friends parents and asked if they could come for a surprise play date after school. We made pizza and they had cake from the morning. An Easter egg and a Harry Potter pen each.
It was lovely. He was chuffed.