It doesn't seem possible, but my BABY turns 5 today!!! So I thought, in honor of her birthday, I'd share a little bit about how we do birthdays at our house! We don't do the big "kid parties" that most people do. On the weekend closest to all 3 birthdays (the twins' birthday is 2 days after hers, so they're all close together!) we invite the grandparents to come for Dinner and cake and presents and enjoy a nice family birthday celebration that day. On their actual birthdays, we borrow some ideas from the Waldorf education method, and adapt them abit, and here's what we've come up with . . .
Last night, in addition to our normal bedtime song, I recited the following poem with Little Bit:
When mommy switches off the light,
I'll still be 4 years old tonight.
But from the very break of day,
Before the children rise and play,
Before the darkness turns to gold,
Tomorrow, I'll be 5 years old!
5 kisses when I wake!
5 candles on my cake!
After Little Bit went to sleep, I set up the present table and birthday spiral.
We wrap presents in playsilks, it's a great re-usable way to wrap things and avoid the mess and waste of all the paper!
Birthday rings are a typical part of Waldorf birthday celebrations, but I like the spiral shape better, I'd love to get an Advent spiral, that we could use for birthdays AND Advent, but for now, I just make my own out of modeling clay, and use birthday candles in it. I decided to go ahead and put enough candles in to use again on Friday for the big girls.
Little Bit is very into hearts, and pink, right now, so I taped pink and white hearts all over our big front windows (no picture of that, I'm not a good enough photographer to be able to take pictures of a window). Then, I hung balloons (pink, of course) at the bottom of the steps, so she'd have to walk through them to come downstairs this morning, and taped a few more hearts to the yarn holding the balloons.
When Little Bit got up, she gathered the hearts as she followed the path. And then she was ready for PRESENTS!!!
After her presents were all open, we read her "Rainbow Bridge story" and lit her candles. This is another Waldorf tradition that I LOVE! Each year on the child's birthday, we read the story of her life, adding a new line each year. Here's her 5th birthday story:
Once upon a time a tiny baby began to grow in a warm little nook. As she grew she heard noises outside her little nook. She heard laughing playing little girls, and she heard a mommy and a daddy, and she wiggled and squirmed in her little nook, excited to meet the people she could hear. Finally, a fairy whispered in her ear "Today's the day, you can go over the rainbow bridge and join your new family . . .
The tiny baby was soo excited, she wiggled all over, anxious to meet the people she'd been hearing. And so, quick as a wink, she danced over the rainbow bridge and there, waiting for her, was a Mommy and a Daddy, and twin sisters, soo excited to meet her! They called her Little Bit and cuddled her and welcomed her into her family.
(light the first candle)
And then Little Bit was one year old and she loved to feel the wind in her face, and she smiled at everyone she met.
(light the second candle)
When she was two years old she loved to play outside and follow her big sisters.
(light the third candle)
When she was three years old, she went on lots of trips and moved into a new house, across the street from her friends, E & J.
(light the fourth candle)
When she was four years old she started circle time. She learned to pump the swing all by herself and loved riding her bike and scooter.
(light the fifth candle)
And now Little Bit is FIVE years old! She is smart and helpful and caring and loves to dance We are happy to know Little Bit and to be a part of her fifth birthday.
(make a wish, blow out the candles, and sing Happy Birthday).
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