Blog entry from last year November.
We had a few birthdays in a row in November. Birthdays stories are told at the end of the day replacing the regular story. The wooden rainbow flower shaped pieces are laid over a rainbow silkie. The story usually includes four-legged furry animals, feathered birds, ocean animals, insects, plant kingdom, and a guide or an angel. Small wooden figures representing each group are placed on wooden flowers as I tell the story. The story begins with all the creatures anticipating the arrival of the baby. The guide leads the way for the baby to come to the loving hands of the parents. Time of the day, weather, the phase of the moon, who were present at birth give the picture of the baby's arrival. The story talks about the seasons as the earth goes around the sun. One year passes and the child turns one. One like one earth, one sun. I light one candle. We talk about the child's activities then. Then we recognize the following year, the child turns two. Two like two eyes, two hands, two legs. I light the second candle. The story keeps going until we come to the age that the child is turning. Usually, the child's parent that joined us will tell remarks and significant events of the past year and/or the birth. We wonder what wonderful things the new year will bring to the child. We sing happy birthday to the child and the child happily blows out the candles. No presents, but sometimes small treats are shared by the child's family.
Since there were so many November birthdays, I told the story of Father Birthday from a book Gateways by Wynstones Press. This story is about an old man who lived alone who remembered that tomorrow on his birthday, he has no one to celebrate it with. It sounds like a sad story, but the ending shows the same old man with a contented warm heart. When he wakes up in the morning, he finds an egg and a candle on his bedside table. He starts the woodfire to preheat the oven to bake his birthday cake. "It must have been Father Birthday who came to me this morning", he says and he breaks a piece of cake to place it on the heath.