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Birthday wishes
for your son.

Say you are proud, name one thing he did this year, and wish him a good day. A message that noticed something is the one he keeps.

The wishes below are sorted by who is writing. Pick your group, put something specific in it, and sign.

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Everyone's words in one card.

Updated

A big present. It burst open in the shop. We bought it anyway.

You grew up too fast and exactly right. Happy birthday, love.

From Sam

Proud of you today and every day. Happy birthday, son.

From Aisha

From your mum and dad, with more love than this card can hold. Happy birthday.

From Tom

Pick a design

  • Marker lettering with a highlighter stroke. Happy birthday. You still can't fold a fitted sheet and that's fine.
  • A speech bubble. Happy birthday to our favourite person in the group chat. Don't tell the others.
  • A homemade cake with one candle. Happy birthday.
  • A film on the sofa. Snuggle in. The trailers are the best bit.
  • A party hat. Happy birthday. The hat is not optional.
  • Marker lettering with a highlighter stroke. Happy birthday. Stay exactly as you are. Maybe tidier.
  • Botanical birthday card. Happy birthday.
  • Two-colour printed lettering. Happy birthday. Yes, there's cake. No, you don't have to speak.
  • Pop birthday card. Happy birthday.
  • Tasting the wine. We tasted six. We remember four. Happy birthday.

The question

Each writer gets a question.

One at a time, about Sam. They answer in their own words, or write without one.

Who they are to you
  1. Something Sam did this year that you still think about.
  2. Words of Sam's that you have caught yourself using.
  3. A day Sam made better just by turning up.
  4. Something Sam taught you without meaning to.
  5. A small thing about Sam that nobody else would notice.
  6. The story about Sam you tell most.
  1. The moment you knew you had a proper friend in Sam.
  2. Something Sam did that only a friend would.
  3. A thing you still laugh about together.
  4. The time Sam turned up when it mattered.
  5. Something Sam knew about you before you said it.
  1. Something Sam did for the family that went unsaid.
  2. A habit of Sam's that you have caught yourself copying.
  3. A memory of Sam from when you were younger.
  4. Something Sam put up with from you.
  5. Something Sam taught you, mostly by example.
  1. A small thing Sam did that you noticed and never mentioned.
  2. The moment you knew.
  3. Something Sam did this year that made things easier for you.
  4. A thing about Sam you would not change.
  5. Something Sam carried that was yours to carry.
  1. The thing you go to Sam for.
  2. Something you picked up from working beside Sam.
  3. A bad day at work that Sam turned round.
  4. Something a new starter should be told about Sam.
  5. Something Sam did that made the job feel worth doing.

Or write without one.

Birthday messages for your son

Pick one, change a detail so it is true of him, and sign it.

From mum

  • Happy birthday. Watching you become who you are has been the best thing I have done.

  • You were the one who changed everything. Happy birthday, and thank you for that.

  • I still see the small boy who asked why about everything. Now you know most of the answers. Happy birthday.

  • Happy birthday. Ring me when you can, and know I am proud of you every day, not just today.

  • You grew up too fast and exactly right. Happy birthday, love.

From dad

  • Happy birthday. You work harder than I did at your age and I am not embarrassed to say so.

  • Proud of you today and every day. Happy birthday, son.

  • Happy birthday. You turned out well, and I had very little to do with it.

  • I do not say it enough, so I am saying it now: watching you grow up has been a privilege. Happy birthday.

  • The best thing I ever did was be your dad. Happy birthday.

From both parents

  • Happy birthday from both of us. We argue about everything except how proud we are of you.

  • You filled this house with noise for years and then you left, and we miss the noise. Happy birthday.

  • Happy birthday. You were the making of us as much as we were the making of you.

  • From your mum and dad, with more love than this card can hold. Happy birthday.

For a grown-up son

  • Happy birthday. You pay your own bills, make your own choices, and ring when you say you will. We could not ask for more.

  • Another year of doing it your way. It suits you. Happy birthday.

  • You are an adult now in every sense, and somehow still our kid. Happy birthday.

  • Happy birthday. Whatever this year brings, you have people in your corner.

  • We do not always say it, but we notice everything you do. Happy birthday.

Funny

  • Happy birthday. You owe us for the teenage years but we have decided to let it go.

  • Another year older and still asking us how to cook rice. Happy birthday, son.

  • Happy birthday. You got your looks from one of us and your stubbornness from the other. You know which.

  • You used to think we knew everything. Now you know we do not, and you love us anyway. Happy birthday.

  • Happy birthday. The grey hairs are yours, not ours.

Short

  • Happy birthday. We love you more than you know.

  • Proud of you. Happy birthday, son.

  • Happy birthday. Have a brilliant day.

  • So glad you are ours. Happy birthday.

  • Happy birthday, son. Make it a good one.

What to leave out

Do not list everything he has achieved. Pick one thing and say it properly. A card that tries to cover his whole life ends up saying nothing about it.

Do not write the thing you always say. If you sign every card the same way, this is the year to change it. He will notice.

Do not add advice. His birthday card is not the place for it, however well meant. Say you are proud and stop there.

Do not make it about you being older. The card is for him.

One card from everyone

Family in different places, old friends, the people he grew up with. One link, one card, open on the day.

  1. 01

    Set his birthday.

    The card opens that morning and not before. Everyone else sees nothing until he does.

  2. 02

    Send one link.

    His mum, his dad, his siblings, old friends. Each person writes once, in a browser, no account needed.

  3. 03

    He reads it on the day.

    Every message signed with a name. Better than a card that arrives a week late and gets opened over the sink.

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Questions

What do you write in a birthday card for your son?

Say you are proud and name the thing that made you proudest this year. Two sentences with a detail beat a paragraph of warm words.

What do you write to an adult son on his birthday?

Write to who he is now, not who he was at ten. Say something about the person he has become and wish him well in the year ahead.

How do you write a birthday message from both parents?

One voice is easier to read than two taking turns. Write it together, sign it from both of you, and say the thing you both mean.

Part of group birthday card.

More guides

Somebody has a day coming up.

Create a card

Everyone's words in one card.