Half Birthday

During my son’s first year I consumed a lot of things related to children, especially if it came from Brazil. I noticed a new trend among my relatives and friends, the half birthday celebration, aka, meversário.

Meversário girl

Looking at my friends Orkut albums, I noticed this party included cake, balloons, decorations and the whole shebang. I also noticed smaller, simpler celebrations. The point is to celebrate the life of this precious child you love so dearly.

I thought about throwing such party for LP but I might have been exhausted from being pregnant with ZGirl. This time there was no excuse, we were going to have a party party because I needed this party more than my daughter did.

My day had been a stressful one. My house needed to be clean, the kids were starting to get fussy but I had a strong determination to make it happen. I even let out a confessional whisper to myself saying ‘we are going to have a party and it’s going to be fun!’

I put on a nicer shirt and the party began. Brazilian music was blasting. We proceeded to take several pictures of ourselves. We all had on party hats, which amazingly changed the mood of the whole family to a perky one. We were all smiling. Long and behold, I was relaxed. The kids were thrilled with the cake, candles and hats. We said a quick word of thankfulness, sang happy birthday and the boys blew the candles.

The Magical Party Hats

My husband loved the homemade chocolate icing. LP loved the cake itself - the boy won’t have anything to do with icing. Zgirl ate baby food earlier, thus she was happy trying to grab whatever was in her reach. As I studied the room, I took a deep breath in relief. Happiness was right there. All I needed to do was embrace it.

Mothers have many days that are no piece of cake. The house is dirty,  bottoms are dirty and so are the mounds of laundry. I challenge you to find a reason to celebrate anyway. You see, life is worth celebrating, whether this day is marked in a birth certificate or not. The Bible says that a cheerful heart brings a smile to your face and a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day (Proverbs 15:13, The Message translation). I experienced the power of a cheerful heart through my daughter’s half birthday party. I suspect God had that date reserved for my enjoyment. I pray that you too find a reason to get a smile on your face. If you are not there yet, just believe the joy of the Lord is your strength.