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Do you prank your kids with their brithday?

Aunt Spiker

Aunt Spiker

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We do - we try to make the birthday prank pretty good.

Our birthday tradition doesn't involve a party because the kids were born in clusters - two are back to back and the other two were born on the same day.

So, the birthday child gets high honors around here - control over the TV, decides all the meals (tonight we'll be having sky high ice cream and waffles - my oldest is turning 12 - his choice). We'll watch Star Wars and Star Trek all day, maybe Stepbrothers if he so chooses.

What he's wanted as his gift is the mega-set Galactic Enforcer (lego) - this thing's HUGE. Well, we've been tight on money ever since the dog's accident and surgery so I actually lied to him and told him we wouldn't be able to afford it and that I'd buy him some candy, instead - from the candy store (ooooh - I told him that and his heart broke. I'm so cruel!!!).

His Enforcer will arrive this afternoon, addressed to a fake name.
 
LOL sounds fun, but no... I've never heard of doing birthday pranks. Could be fun, though!
 
We prank all the time. :mrgreen:

Awe - I'm too mean. Poor kid has been looking at cheaper lego-sets to buy, constantly pointing out "this one's only $30.00 - it's neat. It's not as cool as that the Enforcer, though" :mrgreen:
 
sounds like a great tradition the kids will likely carry over into their own families
 
My husband started the prank-ideas. I didn't really quite get where he got it from until we visited his family - His dad told the kids that crushed-red-pepper was sweet on the pizza, hoping to trick them. The kids knew what it was - and ate it happily with a smile on their face saying "we love the red-pepper, Dad gives it to us all the time!" :rofl

Nothing worked - Grandpa Bill tried all sorts of pranks on the kids and nothing phased them. I'm quite proud we've stunted their shock-factor and desensitized them quite thoroughly. LOL
 
Well - that was a good one! Totally had him fooled up to the end.
Nature played in my favor, so did keeping everyone else out of the loop - I put a blindfold on him and told him to hunt around the house for it . . . took him about an hour to find it and when he did he just had no clue. His words, "Holy horse ****" :rofl

He's still putting it together - total bliss.
 
Well, I don't have kids yet, but I could definitely see myself doing this. My grandfather and I are in an ever-escalating prank war at christmas time. It started the year I bought him $20 worth of scratch off lottery tickets and slipped a fake $10,000 winner in there.
 
Aunt Spiker said:
What he's wanted as his gift is the mega-set Galactic Enforcer (lego) - this thing's HUGE. Well, we've been tight on money ever since the dog's accident and surgery so I actually lied to him and told him we wouldn't be able to afford it and that I'd buy him some candy, instead - from the candy store (ooooh - I told him that and his heart broke. I'm so cruel!!!).
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Aunt Spiker said:
We prank all the time. :mrgreen:

Awe - I'm too mean. Poor kid has been looking at cheaper lego-sets to buy, constantly pointing out "this one's only $30.00 - it's neat. It's not as cool as that the Enforcer, though" :mrgreen:
Click to expand...


I love pranks, but this just seem a bit cruel. There are times that I've had to tell my son "I'm sorry buddy, that's just too expensive." I know he'll be disappointed, but he bounces back. If I were to lie and get it anyway, he would come to hope I was teasing every time I said such a thing. That's cruel. They trust us. Toying with trust no matter how funny, just seems wrong to me. There will come a day when you really cannot buy something for your child, and they will secretly hope it's just another prank. Sorry to be a killjoy. :shrug:
 
:shrug:

He's the happiest kid in the world right now and so I'm not going to debate how I went about surprising him on his birthday according to your view of what's an acceptable approach to a surprise and what's not.
 
You really have to be careful with some children who simply register the message that mommy didn't tell the truth. What are you going to tell him when money IS tight.

I know you mean well but I have to agree with Chuck on this one.
 
If you're concerned about such things (which is understandable) then by all means, don't go about things like this with your kids.
I'm not concerned with such things in the future, though, with my kids - for quite a few different reasons.

Now, today is my daughter's b-day, she turned 6 - but no pranking, yet, she's a bit too young. A traditional party with her friends outside in the pool.

*edit*
It just occurred to me how different our b-day tradition is. This likely makes a big difference.

When I was a kid my parent's would plan a party - buy gifts - wrap them up, it was all a surprise. This is the common b-day tradition.

This isn't what we do, however. On the kid's b-day we take them to the toy store and give them money (their b-day budget) and let them shop - they can buy whatever they want with this money (with a few limits). So there's no surprise, just free-roam and heart's desire. year to year this b-day budget for each kid changes.

So for us to buy a present ahead of time (I did so purely because it was within the b-day budget on Amazon - but wouldn't have been affordable in the store) - is unusual and something we've never done before. If I took him to the toy store like we usually do - he wouldn't have been able to buy it.

If we did a more traditional b-day wrapped-present thing I think my view would be different, I likely wouldn't have done things this way.

None the less . . . to each their own.
 
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I really don't consider the present thing a 'prank'. I mean, I guess it is to some extent, but it just seems perfectly normal. They aren't supposed to know what they are getting. It's supposed to be a surprise. When my nieces or nephew say "I want yyy or zzz for my birthday", we don't all just go, "Okay, sure thing!" We tell them "We'll see", Or "Well, I've already got your present bought", or "That's just too expensive", or whatever. Sometimes, it's true. Sometimes not. But the whole point is to keep them guessing and make them surprised when they open their gifts.
 
Besides, it's not like you're lying about Santa or the Easter bunny or something.

:doh

;)
 
:rofl

We lie about that, too!

We're just destroying the little trust our kids have in us one special occasion at a time - by the time they're adults and out of the house they will never want to come back home to us and bother us for anything.

My plan is working. :mrgreen:
 
Aunt Spiker said:
:shrug:

He's the happiest kid in the world right now and so I'm not going to debate how I went about surprising him on his birthday according to your view of what's an acceptable approach to a surprise and what's not.
Click to expand...

But you posted it on a debate website, so I didn't assume we were just suppose to respond with, "That's great, mom. You got him good!" :sarcasticclap: Sure he's thrilled today. But if he wants a car at some point, and you tell him it's too pricey, he's gonna be mighty disappointed the year he thinks you're just kidding.

In the interest of honesty however, I should tell you that I posed this topic to my son on the way to school this morning. I asked him if it were cruel or awesome. He said it was awesome. So SUC Jr agrees with you. :D
 
You guys can debate it all you want, I have no problem with that. I don't mind your opinion, I'm not offended or even surprised - I just won't be debating it with you thus why I put this in "off topic" rather than an actual debate forum. But feel free :)

Would I have done this with my daughter? No - different child, different thought process. But my oldest, you bet ya. He'll get me back, too. :rofl Just watch, he'll come up with something. It'll likely involve a fake critter. He's got our pranking-tastes, that's for sure. Last year I bought our cat a few fake-mice play toys. My son tied one in the spice cabinet so it would fall out and squeak when I got up and started to fix myself coffee. :rofl Two years ago he taped a picture of a scary face to my bedroom window so when I went to let the shade up I'd freak - that worked. LOL

But, yes, you're right - any other child and this would have been a baaaad idea.
 
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