My mom the birthday party genius
Why Mom wanted to make my dreams come true and what that has to do with a birthday party.
A Mother’s Day Tribute: This mother’s day I decided to practice what I blog and write down one of my favorite memories of my mom.
The day of my Cinderella birthday party seems like a fairy-tale. That is if a story without separation of a family, drama, conflict, and drama can qualify as a fairy-tale.
I’m guessing it was my 7th birthday. Mom didn’t have a big budget, but she made up for it in enthusiasm. And she did it without Pinterest!
The cake was Cinderella’s coach turned back into a pumpkin—a Bundt cake iced orange with a green banana serving as the stem. Mom drew Cinderella on poster board, and, instead of the traditional birthday party “Pin the Tail on the Donkey,” we played “Pin the Slipper on Cinderella’s Foot.” To my eyes, Mom’s Cinderella was just a beautiful—if not more so, than Disney’s Cinderella.
We girls wore “dress up” clothes, not to be confused with dress clothes. Whatever castaway slips, dresses, et cetera we could find or borrow from our mothers’ closets. Cinderella’s magic—or should I say Mom’s birthday party magic—turned us into princesses. Of course, our shoes didn’t fit. They didn’t have to. It was a Cinderella party.
Our banquet hall was the backyard. A paper table-cloth adorned the picnic table.
Years later, as I threw an over-the-top Harry Potter birthday party for my son, I realized that mom was not just indulging her daughter. She was celebrating her own dreams coming true. Growing up, she didn’t always have enough to eat, much less her own pair of shoes. Her childhood household was filled with love, but short on material things.
As a mother, she endeavored to do all the things her mother did, like stretching resources and filling the day with laughter. But she also tried to do the things that were beyond her own mother’s means, like throw an “extravagant” party with a Bundt cake, poster board Cinderella and paper table-cloth.
Her own glass slipper finally fit.
Your Turn: Write about a birthday party
Did you have a special birthday celebration as a child? Have you written about it? What are you waiting for?
