Birthday parties

We were at a really lovely birthday party this afternoon - there were blue and white balloons floating in the whole lounge, a pretty table full of sweets and cakes and photographs, a long table of food and drinks, a table full of presents from guests and a table full of thank-you gifts for guests. It's by far the best birthday party I've been to this whole year.

The thing is, the birthday party was more for the guests than the birthday boy - the birthday boy just turned one today.

Honestly, I have no idea why parents hold birthday parties for babies. Babies don't know about birthdays when they're babies! Some babies even cry when they see so many people crowding around them! And guests must always say how cute the babies are - even when they're not!

Thankfully, the birthday boy today is a really cute baby, good-looking like his parents, especially the mum - no lies there. And he's super good-natured too. I carried him for a while and posed for pictures - he's so huggable and he knows how to pose for pictures! Made this aunty very happy :)

So, hold me to my word - I'm not going to hold birthday parties for our babies in future. No point putting in so much work for a big wayang. Yes, we will still celebrate but within the family. No decoration, no present, no wayang. Because all these will come, when they get old enough to want birthday parties. By then, I'll see whether I can confine parties to having cakes and birthday songs in the pre-school. This is called 走后妈路线 :p

Or perhaps, because I haven't burnt out from organising birthday parties since the beginning, I may - just may - have the interest to hold full-scale parties at home or somewhere. After all, at pre-school age, we run a much lower risk of having the birthday boy and/or girl cry for lack of sleep or milk halfway through their own party *.*

I think many kids like to have birthday parties through their childhood. I know I did although I had just two that I remember, some six years apart! But in the teens, well, maybe less so; birthday parties may begin to sound kiddish to kids who can't wait to grow up. The next big party will probably be for the 21st birthday though I'm not sure why - I don't remember my 21st birthday at all, but I've been to my intern's 21st birthday party and boy, I felt very old there!!

And all the years until old age don't really matter. What's the point of celebrating the same day each year for 40 years?! Not like my birth has been a gift to mankind! By 60 or 80, it will be a celebration of "hey, you've made it here!" :p Or it's just something nice that children and grandchildren like to do for the oldies. In the few years before my grandmother passes away, the cousins were very happily involved in the her birthday celebrations, and she happily just let us do whatever we wanted to do for her :)

So the next birthday coming up in this household will be Sito's 31st! As usual, no present from me haha! Unless you count the free ice cream cone he gets from the birthday promotion at the local ice cream store :p By then he would be done with all his recruiting and hopefully his birthday dinner will also be a celebratory dinner for a successful (read: lands good job in Sg) recruiting period!