Ideas for 40th

[Bananas85]

Help everyone I need some ideas! It's my 40th birthday next month and I have no idea what to do for it. Ideally I'd like my husband to arrange a surprise weekend away but it's never going to happen. I have the Thursday to Sunday booked off work but it's February so the weather is not great and it's my sons 7th birthday on the Sunday so my DH won't go anywhere just the two of us.
I've looked forward to this birthday for ages but I can just see it being a big let down unless I arrange something my self.

It’s my 40th this year too but in the summer so have just booked a week in Greece over my birthday. I don’t like loads of fuss and my party animal sister was making noises about doing something big so I decided a nice family holiday would sort that out. Can’t wait. The only downside for me side is I need to put said sister off booking flights to join us. She’s already mentioned it 🙈😂.

could you do a few days away with friends if your husband won’t want to do anything?

Would any of your friends be up for a weekend away? You could go somewhere like Denbies Vineyard (depending on budget). It's near Dorking in Surrey. They do package stays that include a 2 course dinner, breakfast, and a wine tasting session (if you click 'book now' and then pop your dates in, the available packages will come up. I put in 7th-8th Feb and it's priced at £218.) Denbies Vineyard Hotel Surrey | Denbies Wine Estate. There's also a spa for an additional cost. One of my friends had her 40th there and it was lovely!

UK break, city break, spa either with your partner or some friends

How about...

Choose yourself a lovely gift and tell DH to buy it for you and tell him he needs to choose a thoughtful card and tell him to write something meaningful in there.

Also ask him to invite your friends to a meal and book a table for you all at your fab place. Tell him not give you updates on who can or can't come.

Give your son some card and pencils and tell him it would be a good idea for him to make you a card.

I would organise several smaller things with different groups of people on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday and then focus on DS’s birthday on the Sunday.

So for example, shopping morning and afternoon tea in a nice hotel with some girlfriends on the Thursday, lunch out with DH (if he will take the day off work!) on the Friday, maybe in a restaurant you’ve always wanted to go to. Or if DH isn’t up for it you could do a day spa with a close friend or sister if you have one. Then on the Saturday maybe an outing with another group of friends, or another couple with kids and DH and DS to somewhere a bit different like ice skating or 4D cinema or whatever is in your area that appeals. I’d try to do something that you wouldn’t normally do for a family trip out (if you are regular ice skaters then obviously not that as this is something a bit special so you want to have a stand out memory of it but if you haven’t done it for years it might just appeal). If you want a bit of a surprise would it work to ask DH to take responsibility for booking either the Friday or Saturday meal/activity so you don’t know what you’ll be doing exactly. It feels like the least he could do to be honest!

A friend had her 50th birthday last year and one of her presents was a jar filled with 50 slips of paper, each with a fun thing to do on. She got though the whole jar in the year following her 50th and enjoyed pulling out a slip and planning to do it when she was stuck for an idea or just needed cheering up. Some were little things like ‘go out for ice cream’ or ‘get your nails done’ and others needed a bit more forward planning like ‘visit a city you’ve never been to before’ or take a bus trip somewhere new’ or ‘get up early and watch the sunrise’. You could give a group of trusted friends 40 slips of paper and a jar and ask them to write the ideas for you. It would give your year of being 40 a bit of focus and would mean that you have a year of little treats and highlights to look back on.

I really hope you have a lovely time!

Thank you all for these lovely ideas! I especially enjoyed the jar idea with slips of paper - great idea.
I think I might suggest a family meal on the Thursday, then a spa day and night away with DH on the Friday/Saturday and then back home and do something nice for DS birthday on Sunday. Selfishly I find it a bit jarring that his birthday has fallen on my 40th birthday weekend but I suppose I can't really ask him not to celebrate until the weekend after hehe.
All 8 of my group of friends turn 40 this year so the majority of us are going to Croatia to celebrate so I do have that to look forward to, as well as other family holidays and I have just come back from Lapland so I can't complain too much, sometimes though it'd just be nice for a surprise and not have to arrange everything myself