21 Years of Mum's Birthday Cards

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.