There is a million different ways to keep a bond with your child long after he (or she) grows up. If you give your child lots of love while he is little, he will remember those days for all his life. If you play with your child, tickle him, sing with him, jump and dance with him around the house while he is little, you will keep close bonds with him for a long time.

Children don't need our mentoring, they long for our affection and attention, for the secure feeling that they are loved and cared for. Teaching, mentoring and disciplining them will come along with having fun together. All those reminiscences will help your growing child to go through the painful process of teen-times. Spend as much time as you can with your child while he is little, it will pay off later in full.

One of the strongest memories is a birthday celebration memory. The way you organize a BD for your child means a lot for him. A child is waiting for this day to come long before the Date. When he wakes up on his Birthday morning, his anticipation starts even before he opens his eyes. Guests will come later; celebration might be later in the day, or even postponed for a weekend. But the child is excited already in the very morning of his birthday! Remember this. It's in your power to make this morning a strong accord which is fully yours. Here are some ideas to begin the Day for your child.

Usually I prepared several presents for my son. The presents don't have to be fancy and expensive, no! As a matter of fact, a child doesn't understand the monetary value of a gift. He might be happier with a cheap car model than with an expensive pair of shiny shoes. You should just think with your child's mind, try to perceive what is his dream and expectation. So, I used to buy up to 5 small and funny presents for my son and one or two big and useful ones.

1. When my son turned 8, I organized his BD morning this way:Treasure Hunting.

I drew beforehand a colorful map of our apartment in a way that it looked like a real landscape map, but with the reality of our house. There was a lake on the location of a bathroom, an icy mountain in a refrigerator corner, volcano where the stove was, etc. Give a way for your creativity. Wild flowers field for a living room, a cave for a study room. If you are a poor artist, just cut pictures from different magazines or print from the web and paste them. In the corner of the map I put a picture of a compass rose, according to the apartment position. I packed a real compass in a small box and wrapped it. I put this box in a bigger box and wrapped it again. Thus I did it several times, each time packing a wrapped gift box in a bigger box, until I got a BIG WRAPPED GIFT BOX. I put this box next to my son's bed at night. I wrote directions for the map on an old like parchment paper. I folded a map and directions and put them under his pillow. I hid the gifts all over the apartment, but in remarkable places. In the morning my son had a LOT OF FUN unwrapping the first present and going according to his compass in search of other gifts.

2. When my son was 10, we went to Eilat (Red Sea) as a BD gift.

I woke him up in the morning and gave him a packed backpack. Instead of school, we went on a vacation for three days. We had a lot of fun relaxing on the beaches, touring the city, and checking out the attractions.Later he said, "It was a great Birthday. It's a pity, though, without gifts"...haha, so make sure, to call the vacation a GIFT.

3. When my son was 12, I filled his room with hundreds of baloons.

I was busy half of the night, filling them with air. Regular air, not helium. The effect was above all expectations. My son made his way through the baloon fair screaming and dancing.

There were other BD mornings, like having packs of cards in different languages, instructing him where to find his gifts.

My son is 20 now, but he rememberes those mornings as cherishable moments.