Congratulations on 1 year, as well as gifts on this date, are addressed not only to the baby, but also to his parents. Many people invited to celebrate this date are limited to a necessary, expensive and useful present for the child, and congratulatory words are uttered only at the table and addressed to their parents.
This is not the right approach to what birthday greetings should be. 1 year celebrates the birthday, and not just his parents. You cannot forget about this nuance.
Whom to congratulate?
According to the etiquette requirements for this holiday, congratulations on birth are addressed to parents. 1 year old - celebrates a baby who is congratulated on his birthday.
Congratulations to the baby should not be too short or spoken "for show". In a year, the child already understands a lot, and he will be very pleased with the short tale told in combination with the presentation of a bright toy. This approach to congratulations will appeal to the parents of the little birthday boy.
What to give?
Accordingly, two presentations should be prepared - one that the child himself can use, for example, a toy, and a useful, necessary gift, for example - a stroller or playpen. You can combine the requirements for a gift and present as a present a thing that is useful and understandable to the birthday person, for example, a developing game corner.
If, as a present, a thing that is absolutely necessary for the child, but incomprehensible to him, is chosen, for example, clothes, a stroller, a gymnastic complex or a tour package, then such a gift must be supplemented with a simple toy.
Of course, necessary and useful presentations are given to parents along with warm congratulatory words, and toys are given to the birthday man himself. At the same time, you need to present a gift without packaging, so that the child can take it and start playing.
Game corners combining the addressing of the baby with the functions of an expensive and desired gift, it is better to pre-assemble and bring into the apartment packed in a beautiful protective cellophane. If this is not possible, then it is advisable to come to the holiday ahead of time, of course, having discussed this moment with parents, and to collect a game corner.
Are there any original options?
If you want to show originality, make it not very expensive and at the same time give a modern gift, without wasting time on shopping, you can present a photo shoot or a family trip to a country hotel for the weekend. These are very good presentations that do not require efforts from the donor. But, of course, they should be supplemented with what the little birthday boy can play with.
Whom to congratulate first?
The child should be addressed the first congratulation on 1 year old, parents - the second. If the family has elderly people who are engaged in the baby and living with him under the same roof, then they are addressed with kind words after congratulations to the parents.
However, it is not always possible to observe such a sequence. For example, if the celebration takes place at home, then the parents most often open the doors to the guests, not someone outsider. Accordingly, they immediately receive a present and hear the first congratulation.
How to contact a child?
The need to pronounce congratulations on a 1 year old birthday is often difficult even for those people who themselves raise children. And for childless guests this need often even causes bewilderment and even a slight panic.
Meanwhile, there is nothing difficult in saying a few kind words to the baby. You can congratulate the child both in verse and in prose. The main general requirements for speech addressed to the baby:
- duration - not less than 4 minutes, but not more than 8-10;
- sincerity;
- lack of familiarity.
All kinds of gaming gestures, such as a “butting goat”, are permissible only from those who often see the baby or periodically deal with him. That is, from people familiar with the child who have contact with him, as psychologists say. Familiar gambling tricks from strangers can cause a little birthday for wariness or just scare a child.
What can complicate the celebration?
Many people are familiar with this picture, when the baby begins to scream or sob at the moment of congratulation and throw away the toy put into his hands. At the same time, parents begin to get nervous, especially if embarrassment occurs during congratulations from grandmothers living separately or other relatives.
Often the situation is aggravated by such a nuance as the "parties", that is, those whose congratulations were rejected - relatives of the wife or husband. Often, due to such behavior of the baby, quite serious quarrels arise between spouses.
The same embarrassing situation also happens with congratulations from other guests who seem to do everything right. That is, they do not show familiarity, they say something interesting and present a completely elegant toy.
As a rule, parents try to apologize to the guests, take the baby somewhere or try to reason. The traditional explanations begin - “the baby was just tired”, “the teeth bothered in the morning” and other similar excuses. Usually this behavior of dad and mom leads to an even louder cry.
Why does the baby cry during congratulations?
Meanwhile, the blame for the cry during the congratulations on the one-year-old lies on the shoulders of the guest who addressed the birthday man, and not on the kid. Screaming and crying - the child’s reaction to falsity, lack of sincerity in congratulations, pretense and discomfort experienced by adults, irritation from the need to contact with the child.
One-year-old children are incredibly sensitive, they intuitively feel both their attitude to themselves and the surrounding environment as a whole. That is why at the first real children's birthday there are situations when, having heard a couple of seemingly boring and on-duty congratulations from a complete stranger, the baby is filled with laughter and does not part with the not-so-bright and interesting toy presented by this guest. And that is why the child weeps during congratulations from relatives or other people who seem to say “from the heart” and present a rather intricate, not very cheap toy as a gift.
This nuance must be taken into account when preparing to attend a birthday and say congratulations on a 1 year old baby. No need to memorize tales and poems, if only the sight of a child causes discomfort or irritation. The kid will feel how disagreeable the guest is with his company, and will begin to cry. Sometimes it’s better to violate the rules of etiquette and confine yourself to presenting a presentation and a couple of simple congratulatory phrases said sincerely.
How to congratulate the girl?
Now it’s fashionable to shorten the festive traditional formulations, even in anniversaries you can hear from guests the option of such congratulations - “Happy day!”. 1 year old girl is not the date to apply these current trends. Other slang and familiarity statements, for example, are also unacceptable: “Well, (name)? Happy Birthday to You!"
Of course, all this may well sound from close people, left alone with the birthday girl, but in no case publicly and not in the presence of parents, even if the baby laughs after such a speech. Such statements demonstrate a dismissive and mocking attitude to the holiday or can be regarded by parents as a sign of lack of respect.
Kids love fairy tales. Unlike boys, they focus faster and listen more attentively to prose texts. Parents of girls are always more picky about what and how they are told to them and their child than those who celebrate the boy’s birthday.
This should be taken into account when thinking over words intended for the child or addressed to parents, congratulations on the birth of the girl. 1 year - the age at which the first children's “why?” Arise. This nuance can be used to congratulate the baby.
Example of congratulations in the "colloquial tale" genre:
“Hello, (name)!” Look who came to you (a toy is awarded).
Her name is Dana and she is a mouse. When Dana was very young, she lived in a large warehouse. The warehouse is a huge house in which small toys live and grow. All other mice dreamed of staying small. They did not want to go to the store and leave for the children. And the mouse Dan always ate well, very much wanted to become big and get to the beautiful girl on her first birthday. Therefore she is here.
Hold Dana. Happy birthday, (name)! ”
Handing a toy, it’s not at all necessary to give it a name, however, children better perceive the named plush animals or dolls. The name of the toy should be simple, so that the birthday girl could pronounce it herself.
How to congratulate the boy?
Congratulations on a 1 year old boy is different from the kind words addressed to the girls. Boys are not able to focus on the content of prose texts for a long time, which is why they fall asleep much faster when reading fairy tales than girls.
However, one-year-old boys are very fond of dynamic and rhythmic poems. This feature should be taken into account when thinking over what words to use for a birthday person.
An example of a congratulation of a boy in a poetic genre:
Hello, nice little boy,
(Name), happy birthday!
I'm glad to congratulate you
Present (name or "name" of the toy).
And today you can,
In secret from everyone
Eat a bar of chocolate (served a little chocolate bar),
And get to the sweets.
Happy Birthday, Tomboy!
Grow up soon
Become every year
Bigger and stronger.
If you prefer poetic congratulations, choosing among ready-made versions of texts, you need to avoid such lines: “look who went legs under the table,” “a boy grew up with mom and dad” and similar ones.
Such lines are touching, but they are absolutely not suitable for drawing up a congratulation on a girl or a boy who is 1 year old, because the child is mentioned in the third person. That is, they do not have an appeal to the birthday man, such verses are addressed to the abstract public, and not to a specific child.
How to congratulate parents?
Congratulations to parents on their first children's birthday are heard during the feast, and when presenting useful and necessary presentations, and simply at the entrance to the apartment.
There are no special requirements for what to tell parents and in what form to do it. However, every good congratulation should combine the following points:
- appeal;
- mention of the occasion of the holiday;
- praise for the baby;
- compliments to parents;
- wishes.
That is, you must definitely emphasize any achievements, talents and characteristics of the child, to express admiration for him. Of course, this should be done within reasonable limits, without going over to outright flattery. After this, it is worth noting the merit of the parents that by the year the baby has grown so special and wonderful. Express wishes regarding the unborn child.
When pronouncing toasts, the same nuances are relevant. But, of course, the banquet speeches delivered during the celebration should be shorter and less pathos than congratulations on presenting the presentation.