What have you done to celebrate your child’s birthday while they are at school? My child’s birthday is coming up and I am not sure what or how to celebrate his day. I am a 12 hour car ride away so I will not be able to visit him.
I would send an email to his dorm faculty and advisor, asking for suggestions. They’ll have encountered this situation before plenty of times, and will have suggestions for a local bakery that could deliver a cake or other things like that. My son’s first year at school, his advisor was kind enough to drive to town and pick up a cake that I ordered – since then the bakery has gotten smart and now delivers to campus. We’ve also had pizza delivered for his whole floor to share.
@queenmother , I recall that there was a link on our parent page for “birthdays”. You might want to see if your school has the same – it went straight to the cake-ordering link, etc. and they were all ones that delivered to the school. If they don’t have that, @soxmom’s advice is great. (And you might want to let them know anyway so that your son gets a little extra love on that day!)
If you’re sending a gift, it’d be fun to put something in there that your child could share with others on the hall, whether a big can of popcorn. That will give him a chance to invite everyone in for some (and for them to wish him a happy birthday in return.)
I know that at DD’s school the dining hall does custom cakes. But…DD is born on Veteran’s Day and I always have that off and can make my way there. It’s just 2.25 hours though.
I have had custom cakes delivered from a bakery in a nearby town… delivered to the dorm parent, and they have it for dorm snack in her apartment in the evening. Have always been very well received! <:-P
Ask your child about what they intend to do to celebrate their birthday. I only ordered a cake my oldest child’s first year at school. Turns out he had plans to go out to dinner with his friends and dorm faculty and the $50 cake went in the trash.
After that experience we got more tuned in with what they had planned. We have sent cute boxes from Amazon that arrive in a decorated birthday box with snacks they can share with friends, homemade cookies, cans of frosting, and rice Krispy sheet cakes (my daughters favorites) etc…
Our school’s dining service does cakes that parents can order to be delivered to the kid’s lunch or dinner table. DS took a meal cut last year on his bday to go to town and get pizza, but I had it delivered at lunch. He said he was embarrassed, so I’m not sure I will do it again. When I was there 30 years ago, bdays were a big thing, with everyone clapping and singing. Oh how I WISHED that people would clap and sing for me, or that my mom would send me a cake. Alas, I keep reminding myself that this is HIS experience, not a re-living of mine… and so I will prob not order a cake this year. I will prob get pizza delivered to his dorm or something more low-key (the pizza joint is also an alum, the year behind me). Also, a box of snacks from Amazon Pantry is always appreciated.
" the $50 cake went in the trash"
Sacrilege. There’s always room for cake. If not that day than the next.
@doschicos probably didn’t help that it literally looked like something off of Cake Wrecks.
Doesn’t matter. It’s cake. ChoatieScout once made a kitty litter cake for a Boy Scout auction. It was indistinguishable from the pan in our laundry room, complete with Tootsie Roll smears on the sides, wet clumps, and a real scooper for serving those Tootsie Roll “artifacts.” Went for $92 and was gone, every last litter crumb, before the evening was over. Hey, it’s cake. I bet someone fished your son’s out of the trash.
my kid’s birthday fell during football preseason, on a sunday, when the team had a planned outing to a baseball game. So I hijacked the event, had his birthday wish on the scoreboard, sent 4 dozen cupcakes to the team bus, and a rousing round of happy birthday was sung. (and filmed and sent to dear old mom by one of the coaches.) Best advice…reach out to dorm parent or someone at the school familiar with your child. They won’t lead you wrong.
We live close enough that the past few years I have made cakes and brought them to school for him to share with the dorm. Some parents send take out food for the dorm too. They often leave food out/in the fridge in the common room and let the kids know it is there. At DS school you can order a cake through food service and have it delivered to the dorm.
DC’s school celebrates birthdays (in the dorm) as a group (grouping birthdays together), supplies a cake and refreshments for the dorm. Parents can also send in other things, special cake, pizza, etc. They celebrate everyone’s so if your child’s falls on a holiday or has a summer birthday (they will celebrate half birthdays). I think it’s a nice touch.
The school cafeteria has an option to order a cake for them so I though I would do that. I spoke with him today and he told me that the dorm parent will supply the cake and have a party for him. I guess I will see what I can find on Amazon to send to him. His first birthday without me and the school has hijacked my party plans! I guess I better get used to that.
I don’t know any boys’ dorm that wouldn’t appreciate having some pizza, subs, burritos, chinese or other takeout delivered to the dorm for sharing. 
Might I suggest sending a case of Silly String? <:-P
^^ the dorm parent(s) would love that I assume:)
@Choatiemom … stop giving me ideas…
Silly string ordered 
Oddly enough, they didn’t. Go figure. I was a big hit with the boys, though. :-"