I am quite often asked if my kids have kept all the cards I have made for them
over the years. The answer is, of course, yes and this year, the year my
eldest son turned
21, we decided to put all the photos of his cards together and make a collage of them. My son was actually disappointed that I had failed to take a photo of
him holding his card every year since he was born. I did point out to him that
as a baby he might not have taken such great care of it and also that I wasn't
using a digital camera or my phone for the shots when he was a small child!
We enjoyed seeing how his interests have changed over the years and how he
himself has gone from boy to man! The cards will certainly continue and maybe
I will be able to show you a new collection in a few years time. In the
meantime, here is a little reminder of each year's design.
Age 1. My son - and mummy and daddy - loved the pop-up book
Where, Oh Where, is Kipper's Bear?
His first birthday card showed the pinky purple
Bleeper People from that very book. The mouse on the card is from the book too and the green,
red and orange crocodile was his favourite activity toy at the time.
Age 2. Show me a little boy who doesn't like trucks? My son used to stand on
the toy box to look out the front window. "There's a bus!" and "There's a
car!" he would shout.
Age 3. Bob the Builder, or Bob Habanai as he is known in Hebrew, was
his firm favourite at this age. Actually he mostly watched "Bob" in
English on the videos and then DVD's that Grannie and Grandpa sent from the UK.
Age 4. There was a Peter Pan stage and a strong interest in pirates. I'm not
sure if this looks like my son, but I rather like the smiling pirate.
Age 5. He was clearly still into Peter Pan and this year Captain Hook made it
onto the card. Funnily enough, out of all his birthday cards, my son didn't
remember who Captain Hook was! Um, all those hours watching the film were
clearly wasted!
Age 6. Football had started to become his obsession aged six. He is also
proudly wearing his blue and white football kippa, or skullcap, which
he wore for years.
Age 7. This year I showed my son wearing his yellow smiley kippa. He is
holding "Sock-puppety", the homemade sock puppet, in one hand and his
Tamagotchi digital pet
in the other. In front of him is a big football. A rabbit,
representing his favourite soft toy, is making its first appearance.
Age 8. It's a bit difficult to see the card here but this was the first one I
blogged about. You can read all about it
here. At that age my son was still divided when it came to favourite
football teams. Mister Handmade in Israel is originally from London and a
keen Arsenal supporter. I am
originally from
Hull
and come from a football mad family. Grandpa has a strong influence! Thus my
son had two favourite teams at the time so I depicted him wearing half an Arsenal shirt and half a Hull City shirt! The much-loved "Sock-puppety" also got in there too...
Age 9. This year it seems that my son wanted to be more like his Israeli
school friends and was supporting Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club. Their
official colours are blue and yellow. He is waving a half-and-half scarf,
showing his passion for Hull City and Arsenal as well. We also had a hamster - you can
just see it sitting on his head - and "Rabbity" is still hanging in there!
Age 10. Double digits and tennis had started to be important in my son's life. I
showed him with his new racket and also his
snake board. A football
goal is behind him and he is wearing his Arsenal cap. Henry the hamster popped
in too and, yes, "Rabbity" is still there!
Age 11. My son seems to have now decided that his favourite team is Arsenal. He
is wearing his red shirt and holding a football and tennis racket. He has his
white bicycle helmet on his head. He was - and still is - a keen reader and so I
added his favourite
Percy Jackson and
The Roman Mysteries books. He
had also been going to an after-school chess class for more than five years at
this stage, so a chess piece was included too. "Rabbity" popped in to say hello, holding a flag that declares "I'm still here".
This year my eldest son wrote in an English project "My Mum is
an artist and making cards is her job. She always makes me cards for my
birthday and I really like them - they are always good."
Age 12. The year of the iPod! My son had spent all his
pocket money and birthday money on an
iPod and was pretty much obsessed with it! He is dressed in his favourite
green Nike T-shirt and Adidas cap and is writing down maths answers in his
workbook (he was always very good at maths). There's a football next to him
and two book covers of his recent favourite reads. Yes, "Rabbity" is
still there...
Age 13. This card was given to my son just after his Bar Mitzvah. He had already received a
special card
to mark that occasion. His birthday card showed the Hull City and Arsenal
flags that decorated the tables at his Bar Mitzvah celebration. He is
still clutching his iPod, an upgraded version from last year.
Age 14. This year I showed him doing exercises on his pull up bar. There's a
chocolate bar in the background and he is surrounded by maths symbols. At
that time he was spending hours working on the material from his special
advanced maths class. But there was still time for football...
Age 15. My son was very involved in the
NOAM youth movement for several years.
(NOAM is an acronym for No'ar Masorti, Masorti Youth, a Zionist youth
movement.) He was a madrich (youth-group leader) at this age and I
showed him in his green club shirt and the white cord which displays his rank. The Arsenal crest also
had to appear on his card.
Age 16. Learning to drive! When he turned sixteen my eldest son was keen to
learn to drive. He began the process by taking a medical and eye exam,
followed by a theoretical test and, once those bases had been covered, he
signed up for 28 driving lessons with an instructor. I am delighted to say he
passed his driving test the first time!
Age 17. At this age my son was serious about keeping fit. He wanted to be
ready for the army.
Press-ups were part of
his routine, so that's what I showed him doing on his card. Of course I
added the
Arsenal crest
and a football. He was still learning to drive at this stage, so I included
an Israeli L-plate too. He had also completed his maths
bagrut -
Israel's high school
matriculation examination
- two years early and was tutoring younger kids who needed a little extra help
with their maths. I added a few maths symbols to the card to illustrate
that.
Age 18. This was the first birthday that my son did not celebrate at
home. He had already finished school and was on a pre-army programme,
living on a kibbutz in the south of Israel. I did however arrange for a
friend to deliver the all-important card on the day. It showed him wearing
the white T-shirt of his
mechina (pre-army
programme) and waving his Arsenal scarf to cheer on his team. He had also occasionally gone to see
Beitar Jerusalem with his friends, so I added their badge to his card as well. Those
evenings often finished with a burger and beer.
My son was going into the Israeli army the following summer, so I included
the badge of the
Israel Defence Forces
on his card and wished him "Good Luck" in Arabic. Finally, I added a
pair of walking boots. He was doing a fair bit of hiking and orienteering on
his programme and those walking boots were put to good use!
Age 19. At this stage my son was several months in to his army service and was
once again not home for his birthday. He received his card, which showed him
in his olive green army uniform, a few days late. He has a bottle of
Maccabee
beer in one hand and a plate full of hummus in the other. Of course his
passion for
Arsenal Football Club
remained and I included their crest
on his card.
Age 20. The big difference between last year's card and this year's card was
the beard! Once again I showed my son in his army uniform. He is
sitting at his laptop computer reading the
Al Jazeera news site. Of
course I included the
Arsenal crest too and this year Mister Handmade in Israel insisted I add the
headline "Partey Time!" on the card, to mark the arrival of Thomas Teye
Partey, a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the
club. Mister Handmade in Israel and the eldest son were very excited about him!
Age 21. That takes us to 21, most likely the last year I will show my son in
his army uniform. Just to recap from a previous post, my son is holding a
certificate he recently received for a course he has just completed. When he
is home from the army he likes to go on tiyulim (hikes) with his
friends. The Ein Prat spring is behind him and in the foreground is his
pakal kafe (coffee kit). My son has also been trying a gluten free
diet, so the red warning sign represents his new diet and, yes, the
Arsenal crest is still important to him...
* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun.
24 comments:
What a sweet post showing all 21 years of birthday cards and photos of your son growing up year by year. Your son is a handsome young man. I wish I did that too but never thought of it.
So many beautiful cards - you've created such wonderful memories of each year. My favourites are number 3 and number 16 :o)
#MMBC
It is so great that you not only made the cards but also took photos of him holding them as well. They are really wonderful. Will you put them in a book for him?
-Soma
Aww! Your son is so lucky to have had a home made card for every year of his life. They are great cards. x
It's a marvelous tradition and I have to laugh at the thought of a 1 year old holding a card! #MMBC
How special!!
Oh this is just beautiful. I love how you've made your son a card every year and how special to look back at the photos seeing how he has grown and how his interests have changed from what you've added to the card. #MMBC
I loved seeing your son grow up through his birthday cards! What a wonderful and special way to highlight his special interests each year. Navdav is a handsome young man and I know you must be very proud of all his accomplishments.
What wonderful memories you’ve created. Such a treasure.
www.rsrue.blogspot.com
What a wonderful look back!!
What a wonderful idea! I wish I had done something like this, it's a great way to see how your kids grow and change over the years.
oh this is such a cool idea. I love it. Enjoy your week, stay safe, and thankyou for visiting my blog this week. I hope you make the gluten-free slice. It is yummy.
oh wow! I am truly impressed that you have made your son a card every single year and have such a lovely record of them and his life.
I love that you have kept a record of this, what wonderful memories to look back on! #MMBC
These are so cool!
What a great tradition. Thanks for sharing the history of them. Has to be fun to a mom's heart to see them.
I think it's great how you use the birthday cards to tell the story and development of your son at the same time - wonderful!
All the best - and happy Birthday, Nadav! :-)
Traude
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2021/12/oma-freuden-und-was-sonst-noch-im.html
These cards are so beautiful, and it is so cool to see your son and his varying interests over time!
xoxo
Lovely
www.mynameislovely.com
What an amazing series of photos, Lisa!!
(I too wish I had done something like this during the years.)
Needless to say, all the cards are really beautiful and one can see your son was very happy to receive them.
Take care!
Lisa this is just wonderful -- I have often thought about what a great record your cards make of the year and it is fabulous for your son to have his for his whole childhood (and young adulthood as it starts).
What a lovely record of your son's interests. You could make a flicker book of the photos where he is old enough to hold the card, that way you could watch him grow quickly! Such a wonderful collection. xx
Awwe wow this is amazing x
How lovely that you have a record of all the birthdays. Love your cards.
I love this Lisa! How fab that you have a pic of every card over 21 years. So lovely to look back on. x
Post a Comment