Sunday, May 1, 2011

A Month of Memories...all alone in the moonlight...

Way back in March I decided I wanted to challenge myself to another month-long writing extravaganza...and then I apparently nodded off and woke up mid-April with nary a blog post to show for it. This idea came about for a number of reasons, many of which will be discussed over the course of this month, but, mainly, because I wanted to pass along stories of my childhood that are flooding back based on what Mini-Me, The Wubster, and Mickey (TKNTD) are experiencing. Of course, before I nod off again this month, let's just dive right in...

Today we celebrated Mickey's first birthday with family and friends. She seemed to have a blast, despite the stranger anxiety that often has her clinging tightly to her mom and I. She ate her lunch, fought off her brothers as they tried to open all her presents, stared at everyone with grave concern as we sang 'Happy Birthday' (despite a week of practice her brothers provided at dinner time), devoured her cake icing first (that's daddy's girl!...well, actually, Mickey, daddy's girl would save the icing for him), and skipped her nap in favor of rolling happily on the floor in what was probably a sugar-induced haze. I think it was a complete success!

Speaking of a complete success, Mini-Me made out like a birthday cake bandit this weekend. Having celebrated his sister's today, and a classmate's yesterday, he's had his fill of cake, ice cream, and running wild through backyards. I've been fascinated watching Mini-Me become infatuated with birthday parties this school year. He and his classmates have actually been banned from talking about them at school. They spent so much time inviting and uninviting each other that it became a major source of tears and, thus, a major distraction for the class. Nevertheless, there's still plenty of birthday party discussion on the drives home from school.

It's during those discussions or as I'm watching the boys frolic at the ever-popular inflatable playground parties, that I always seem to end up thinking about birthday parties past: the McDonald's birthday party, the Showbiz Pizza birthday party, the birthday sleep-overs...but the one that always seems to stand out is the Kermit-the-Frog party when I turned 5. I'm sure I had fun at all my birthday parties, especially since they always involved my best friends at the time and mostly ended up with me cake-drunk and revelling in new G.I. Joes, Star Wars figures, or other cool pieces of molded plastic, but that fifth birthday always stands out because of the party hats.

Yep, the hats.

I'm apparently infatuated with the Kermit-the-Frog birthday hats. I've scoured the typically-good-for-finding-anything-you-can-remember-Internet, but haven't yet found a photo of those beloved hats. They were your standard cardboard cone-shaped party hats, but these had a 3-D Kermit perched on the front and his little paper legs dangled across your forehead. Man, they were awesome! I'm sure Grammie and Poppie have a picture of them somewhere.

The Kermit cake was awesome, too...if I close my eyes and find my inner birthday zen, I can even taste it...

Alright, kiddos...daddy's turning 35 this year. I think we need a 30th anniversary of my fifth birthday. Start saving your allowance* and searching eBay...believe me, it'll be one to remember!


*um, you'll need to ask your mom about this.



Update--5/2/11

After I submitted the post and began shutting down my computer, tears streaming down my face because the Interweb failed me in my search for the Kermit hat, I remembered that my mom had given me my baby book a while back. Luckily, I'd actually put it in an appropriate location AND even luckier, I remembered that location! There, amongst pages 'glued' together by melted, decaying birthday balloons past, is a pristine prized possession:


Isn't it awesome!?!

And, as it turns out, the hat was from my third birthday party, which fascinates me even more, because, despite being so young, I feel like I remember the party (or elements of it) so vividly.

"Memory is a child walking along a seashore. You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasured things."
~Pierce Harris, Atlanta Journal

2 comments:

  1. So glad you woke up, Doogie! Rather than periodic writing challenges between month-long naps, how about you acknowledge the obvious: you are a writer. Looking forward to reading something new every day, well beyond May.

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  2. That hat is fantastic! Kids these days don't know what they are missing. I will be 35 this year, too. I think. What year is it? Just wish I had a Kermit birthday to reminisce about.

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