Since I made it when I got home from work, it was about 5pm when I brought it over. Even I know that getting kids hyped up before dinner is not the ideal way to settle them towards their evening and bed. I put it all in a bag, clipped the top so they couldn't see in and added a note: TUESDAY SURPRISE...DO NOT OPEN EARLY.
When we delivered it, I suddenly remembered how mom always gave us UNbirthday presents. With 6 kids it can be tough to keep up with everyone's moods and needs, but she had that motherly intuitive sense (she could also see behind her head!) of when someone needed some love or understanding beyond the normal. A few times a year I would come home to her happy person signature written on note paper and a
She was a voracious reader, rarely without a book in hand if she was sitting down. I can only assume, though I never asked, that the idea of UNbirthdays came from Lewis Carroll and "Through the Looking Glass".
Lewis Carroll said:
“I mean, what is an un-birthday present?" A present given when it isn't your birthday, of course."
Alice considered a little. "I like birthday presents best," she said at last.
You don't know what you're talking about!" cried Humpty Dumpty. "How many days are there in a year?"
Three hundred and sixty-five," said Alice.
And how many birthdays have you?"
One.”
Mom helped our family practise the fine art of UNbirthday Presents. She 'practiced' in two ways:
1. The unexpected gift on your bed when you least expected and didn't even realize you needed it.
2. For each child who has a birthday, all siblings receive a small token of appreciation too.
It became a celebration for the sake of celebrating. So Russ and I celebrated the kids, letting them know we think about them and love having them in our life.