Birthdays and Celebrations
Children love celebrations. They are something to look forward to – sometimes just the thought of an up-and-coming festivity can assist a child through a rough patch, or make the school term seem that much shorter. Don’t children just love the gathering of familiar friends and family that often results from a celebration? These are the people they love and who cherish them in return. This is part of their security blanket and the feeling of belonging always lifts their self-esteem.
OVERSHADOWED BIRTHDAYS
My goddaughter’s birthday falls just after Christmas, which makes it a very long time between presents! She gets showered with Christmas gifts followed by birthday gifts all in a matter of weeks, and then she has to wait almost 12 months for it to happen again. Because these celebrations are so close together, we’ve decided we need to create a mini celebration for her in the middle of the year to make her feel really special. So, from now on, there will be some fun, games and a birthday cake with candles to mark Caitlin’s half year every year, and this year she turned three and a half! She was really excited and so were we. We wrapped some small gifts and hid them around the garden for her to find. I picked up a book the other day that calls these sorts of celebrations ‘unbirthdays’. This is a day when a person who has a ‘mistimed’ birthday can have a truly personal celebration at a time other than on his or her actual birthday.
SEASONAL CELEBRATIONS
Children are acutely aware of the seasons. They can see, touch and feel the temperature changes, the falling of the leaves or the profusion of spring blossoms and, of course, they learn about the seasons every year at playgroup, nursery school and primary school, each time exploring the subject more deeply. With children in the house, you just can’t take summer, winter, spring and autumn for granted. My children have started a new family tradition – change of season meals, preferably outside in the garden with extended family present – dinner under the stars just before the last warmth of summer turns into the cool of winter, and a garden picnic to welcome in the spring.
The seasons can also symbolise other things – in winter you might want to become thoughtful about life, or to clear out clutter and give away things you no longer need. Spring is a good time to set some family goals and celebrate all things new about life.
Whichever way you choose to celebrate birthdays, seasons, life, success and family, may you do so with a sense of great joy and togetherness, honouring the contribution of each person in making your family what it is – just by being himself or herself.
I love the following quote: “Celebrating a birthday is exalting life and being glad for it. On a birthday we do not say, ‘Thanks for what you did or said, or accomplished.’ No, we say ‘Thank you for being born and being among us.’ ” (Henry J M Nouwen) I hope this spring gives birth to many new ideas, new ways of looking at things, and new challenges.
