Birthdays to celebrate the Journey

Chateaux de BonjourKitty

Mei Mei has been counting down to her birthday celebration since June. We had a celebration at her kindergarten during the week, which she enjoyed. She's quite unlike her brothers - my eldest son was indifferent about celebrating his birthday when he was in kindie; my second son hated it because he didn't like being center of attention. She wanted a My Little Pony cake that features her favourite character Fluttershy. I googled it today; apparently the character represents the element of kindness.  I was in charge of the cake and my wife was responsible for the party packs. It was the last kindie birthday party for us as parents. We've hit another milestone. I am sure that one day we would look back on this with much fondness.

Today we celebrated her birthday at home with family members. We don't have the energy to plan something big or more elaborate. Neither do we want to start a tradition that we have to pull our hair out to  fulfill every year. A simple lunch with family and having time to catchup is what suits us best. Mei Mei wanted a princess cake so we got her a fondant Chateaux de BonjourKitty, perhaps an overhang from our recent holiday in France. After the photo-taking, we had the heart-wrenching task of slicing up the chateaux which ended up looking like one of the castle ruins in Scotland.

When the guests were about to leave, I asked my daughter to take an afternoon nap before her Taekwondo class in the evening. I didn't realise that she had been quite worked up trying to fix the new Lego Friends set which she chose for her birthday. She wanted her brother to help but he was busy with his own Lego Minecraft set. I managed to get her to go to her bedroom but she was still annoyed about not completing the first part of her rather large Lego set.

To pacify her, I asked her whether she knew what age the toy was suited for. She replied that it was for children between the ages of 6 to 12. I reminded her that she was a new 6 year-old girl and even some 12 year-olds may need help with that set.  I told her that the fun in Lego is in the fixing process. She accepted that she was probably too young to fix it all by herself but she wasn't convinced that the doing was more fun than the finished product. But at least it settled her enough for her to catch a nap. Later in the evening, my son said that she actually did pretty well fixing her Lego set except for one mistake.

This year, I wish her the joy of life's journey. I wish that she enjoys the process of growing up even though it takes time to understand the process of growing up. I pray that like the Fluttershy cartoon character she will grow up kind. I hope that she will not be easily frustrated when she faces a challenge. Instead remember what's written on the birthday cake we brought to the kindie - Girls Rule! And, don't be in too much of a hurry on the journey Mei Mei because your parents are not yet ready for that milestone.