New tradition: make your child a birthday cake that is far too large for a single family to consume. The night of their birthday, after candles and cake, slice off giant pieces of the cake and carry plates of it around to your neighbors. Bring your kid along, so that each neighbor wishes them happy birthday, and then they get cake in return. Your kid’s birthday is now not just about them, but about the people around them. It’s about their life, but also the little pockets of lives around them, joy swapping, earthquaking enduring, mail getting, lemon tree borrowing, the quiet support of proximity. Without your ever having to say so, your kid knows they are both extremely special, and very not alone.