So, my son’s birthday is coming up – May 4. As such, he’s begun a countdown. Every day we get questions like “Whose birthday is next?” and “How many days til my birthday?”
Driving home from a mini-vacation yesterday I got to engage in this priceless little conversation:
B: “Is my birthday is next?”
Me: “Well, Daddy’s is next, then yours. I suppose that Shakespeare’s birthday is technically next.”
B: “Are you going to Shakespeare’s birthday party?”
Me: “You know, I almost did. We were thinking about going to Washington D.C for vacation, and if we were down there then yes, we would go to Shakespeare’s birthday party. They have a big building there that is all about Shakespeare, and they would have a party.”
B: “Will any bad guys be invited to Shakespeare’s birthday party?”
Me: “Bad guys? I don’t think that he’d want any bad guys at his party.”
B: “You know, like Macbeth…?”
Me: “No, I don’t think that Macbeth will be going to Shakespeare’s birthday party. Would you like Macbeth to come to your birthday party?”
B: “No.” *beat* “I would invite Hamlet to my birthday party.”
He has promised me that next year he wants a Shakespeare birthday party, because party themes are oh-so-crucial when you are this age. My middle daughter has at times listed off the next 5 themes for her birthday parties. I keep telling him that none of his friends would understand a Shakespeare party, but who knows, we’ll see if he still thinks of it next year. My problem is that I’m well aware that they do this sort of thing because I think it will make me happy, but no matter how cute that is, I would not steal my kids’ birthday party just for a little more Shakespeare.
I love this, even if it is to make you happy. A Midsummer Night's Dream party would be perfect for little girls. They could all dress up like fairies, and play pin the head on donkey, drink a "fairy potion", and you could have pansies as decorations.:)
I was just at a Shakespeare-themed birthday party the other day (Of course, it was for a teenager). Everyone came in costume, but modern clothing counted as a costume if you could think of a character it fit. For example, I went as Jacques, portrayed as a jaded 1920's theatre critic.