Girls' Birthdays 女孩子的生日

These are two photos from two very different birthdays of friends' daughters 朋友的女兒 we celebrated recently. Birthdays are rituals 儀式we celebrate that mark milestones in our lives. Of course it’s much more fun for parents to celebrate their childrens’ birthdays than to celebrate their own. It gives parents a chance to get together. The top photo is a 3 year old girl and the bottom is a 7 year old.

Needless to say, children think of birthdays differently 小孩子對生日的看法不一樣. Most of them our daughter’s age look forward to birthdays all year long and wonder why they can’t have 2 or 3 each year. They start off with running, screaming and jumping, preferably with as much noise as possible while the adults congregate in another place and talk. At one point, everything stops and everyone gathers for the blowing out of the candles 吹蠟燭 and cutting of the cake 切蛋糕. Then the real fun begins when all their friends sit on the floor ready for the opening of the gifts 開禮物, in open admiration of each present. I guess we all love gifts, though, there is something of that fun around Christmas time as well.