Yesterday was our son’s 7th birthday.

This was our first family birthday celebration during lockdown.

So, how did we make it as special as we could?

We cancelled school for the day.

That’s right – we told the kids that there would be no school work. Whoo-hoo!

My wife took the day off too, so that we could all spend the day together without any interruptions from work.

We let our son choose the family meals for the day.

He chose pancakes for breakfast.

He chose burgers for lunch.

He chose fish and chips for dinner, which we had delivered from the local fish and chip shop.

In lieu of an actual birthday party, we hired a yoga teacher to lead a kids’ virtual yoga class with a bunch of our son’s classmates and friends joining in online.

We had a birthday cake made (and delivered) with one of his favourite things on it: a Dr. Who TARDIS.

Obviously he had presents to open, with new toys to play with and new books to read.

We never imagined he would have to spend his birthday under lockdown during a global pandemic, but we did the best we could to make it extra special. Hopefully he will remember all the things we did on his birthday, rather than all the things we couldn’t do.