I have never had a party for my birthday, and in recent years I have tried to completely ignore it. But I like your approach to use it as an opportunity to reflect and be grateful to our Creator and our mother. Beautiful idea. The world won't stop reminding us about it, so might as well reframe it into a beneficial way inshallah.

I can imagine it gets a little harder with kids living in the west who compare themselves with their friends and might feel left out because they don't fully understand. But a few days ago in the book “If the Oceans Were Ink” I highlighted this passage:

“There were no birthday parties for the Akram girls. To throw a party for something that Allah did—making a year pass—was to take credit for the divine order. Real achievements were celebrated, so the girls got parties in the backyard when they finished reading the Quran. Aisha, the Sheikh’s youngest, made it through the scripture at the extraordinarily young age of five, so her party featured a bouncy castle and cupcakes.”