The musings of a Hamptons-based shutterbug in her pursuit of life's joys - photography, food, and travel.
Birthday parties were such fun events when I was growing up. Having so many kids over to play, and eat ice cream and cake was pure bliss. Mom always made us take a nap before our birthday parties, which really was intended on getting us out of the way so she could set the stage.
My favorite birthday party event ever was the string game. Mom would wrap a "party-favor" in tissue paper, tie the end of a small ball of string to it, hide the little treasure, and then weave the ball of string throughout the living and dining rooms, wrapping it around the legs of tables, chairs and the piano, and anything stationary but not much higher than about 2 feet, ending every string at the doorway between the kitchen and dining room - the starting line.
Unlike the photo above, Mom had cut out of cardboard a dog bone labeled with each party guest's name and tied the end of the string off around that. Each of us would wrap the string around the dog bone, untangling it from furniture and friends, eventually revealing the "prize". As children who were always being cautioned to be careful and organized, cleaning up after ourselves all the time, we LOVED the chaos of it all. The parents loved the game because it would keep us all busy, and out of random mischief, for a good half hour or so.
Once completed by everyone, the game would be followed up immediately by party hats and poppers at the table while waiting for the birthday cake and ice cream to arrive. Simple? Yes, but a cherished, dear memory. In fact I loved it so much, that I once staged the same string game for a friend's birthday party in my apartment in the city and we were all in our late 20s! It too was a great success.
Any one out there have special birthday party memories to share?
