A Birthday Party for Mommy

A birthday party for mommy is an occasion to find out exactly how much Jonathan’s has learned about this cause for celebration in Kindergarten. At the beginning of the year, when he was 2 years old he still did not quite get it, but 6 months later, approaching my own birthday and understanding how important this theme has become to him, I invite the family to celebrate my birthday over coffee and cake, with candles of course…

When Jonathan sings a happy birthday” song, he usually sings it for himself. “Happy birthday to Jonathan, happy birthday to you!”. There is no reasoning with him. It can only be his birthday! He is the center of his little world. The fact that it is my birthday that triggers the party is irrelevant. No matter! He sings for himself. And if I am honest, I am celebrating with family guests for Jonathan rather than for myself. It might as well be indeed his birthday.

I put the candles in the cake and he is disappointed when I do not allow him to take them out. Then I light them and he is exited, forgetting his disappointment in the expectation of blowing them out. We all sing aloud and then count to three for blowing up the candles – the ladies among us pretending, rather than blowing air. My brother in law however thinks Jonathan needs help blowing out the candles and so he blows hard and blows them out. Poor Jonathan was so disappointed! He starts to cry! And all the mothers in the room (grandmothers included) turn to scold my poor brother in law for his lack of under standing. So we light the candles again and this time Jonathan gets to first enjoy the flames (interesting stuff! But he knows he may not get too close) and then he blows them out all by himself!
After the candles have been blown out, Jonathan proves that he understands good manners and hospitality. He goes around serving people cake like a proud peacock showing his tail. He receives the pieces of cake form me served in plastic plates and he offers them to the guests, distributing cake until all have gotten a piece and only then does he take a piece for himself.

For a whole week afterwords, he wants to put candles on the remains of the cake himself, and then light them and blow them out each morning. He knows where to find birthday candles in the cupboard in the kitchen and eventually does mind lighting them even without the cake (it is eaten after a few days). After about a week, he looses interest in the candle lighting ceremony – but the birthday songs keep coming up. If he is singing one of them, I know that yet another child has had his birthday celebrated in kindergarten. If Jonathan also turns up with a small gift, I can be 100% sure that this is the case. I am only left to hope, that now that he grasps the concept of the party and what fun a birthday party can be that he will enjoy his 3rd birthday celebration (in kindergarten and at home) much more than last year.