Party Preparations

I'm sure every family has its own traditions for celebrating birthdays and so on. One of ours is that the children decorate a cake for the birthday person, by covering a cheap bought cake with buttercream icing and then studding it with sweets. The result is usually inedibly sweet and gooey (and this year bordering on biological warfare since the decorator has chickenpox - but everyone in the family has now had it so we don't care). The tradition is more about the fun of decorating the cake than any pleasure which can be derived from eating it. I've never analysed it deeply before, but now I come to think of it, it serves a nice purpose in providing a special activity for the non-birthday children, so they don't feel jealous and left out. And it teaches them the joy of giving as well as receiving, something we sacrifice a great part of when cards, gifts, party food etc. are all bought instead of made.

Another of our birthday traditions is making cheese straws in the shape of a number. So Eleanor helped me make cheesey number sixes for Sam's party tea. The kids even insist we make these for adult birthdays so we have made cheesey thirty-mumbles for Ed and me, and cheesey mumblety-mumbles for nana and grandad in the past. I'll have to find the cutter in the shape of a zero next year, for the first time. And the year after. And the year after that. And the year after that, Oh God. Change the subject.

Ed will try to get home from work a bit earlier than usual this evening, and we'll all eat sanwiches, party ring biscuits, Pringles potato chips (Sam's choice) and cheesey sixes. Then we'll dim the lights and light the candles on Sam's birthday cake, and Sam will blow them all out whilst we sing Happy Birthday To You. I'll take some photos and share them with you later.