A Special Birthday

My nephew -- by a cousin -- turned 7 yesterday. Wow, big deal, 7-years-old. Until two days ago I had no idea how BIG a deal it really was... I learned the boy has never had a birthday party growing up. And now that he was reaching a milestone (kids should have a party when they turn 1 and 7 at least) there was again the danger that he wouldn't be having a party on this special day.

For the life of me, I couldn't really figure out why this poor kid has yet to experience a birthday party. My aunt, who lives next door to the boy, explained that since his b-day falls on June 29, this has always been a bad time funds-wise.

One, because school has just opened and with two of them studying, money will logically be used to enroll them. Unfortunately, unlike in America where primary education is free in public schools, it costs quite a bit to put kids through good schools here in the Philippines. Two, payday is on the 15th and 30th of the month -- so on the 29th, chances are the paycheck hasn't come. Third and more significant is the fact that they've had a very difficult life and it has only been a year when my cousin was able to get a good-paying job abroad, enough to give his young family a comfortable life. And even then, because funds have been limited the past years, there are still obligations to settle at this point in time. So, there...

Since I felt that throwing a simple party for him was not going to cost me an arm and a leg, and my nephews and niece, courtesy of my sister, would enjoy the visit to their cousins, I decided to give him a little surprise. After all, it didn't take much to create a party for him -- cake with candles to blow, ice cream, cocktail hotdogs and soda -- to give him his first birthday party experience, so off we went.

My sister also thought of lending him her son's super-hero costume (The Flash) at least for the candle blowing session, so he could really get a feel of a birthday party. And I was right. The boy was grinning ear-to-ear in excitement. It may have set me back a couple of hundred, but the smile on his face was all worth it. And the kids enjoyed each other's company, watching home movies, playing badminton and just horsing around.

Now that's my kind of birthday party... you don't need a lot of time to set it up, and you don't need much for it to be a hit with kids. Best of all, you achieve the goal of making the celebrant feel special on this important day.

Happy Birthday, Mico!