I don't know how traditions begin. Is it an incident that gets repeated time and time again and then one day you realize you've been doing it and and therefore it has become a tradition? Or can you just announce "we have a new tradition"? I really hope the latter is true, because 2 years ago that is exactly what I did.
It was Finnegan and Patrick's 1st Birthday Party. Our home was filled with family and friends. After an hour of mingling and letting lots and lots of babies play, it was time for cake. We put the boys in their high chairs and placed the smash cakes, with the lit number 1 candles, in front of them. Patrick cried immediately and Finn looked quite curiously at the sweet treat.
It was as if it happened in slow motion - Finn reached for the flame and I just couldn't stop him. Before I knew it his little hand was in the flame and my sweet baby was in shock. For a second he was quiet, I thought "Nope, he didn't do it, he's not hurt" and then came a blood-curdling scream. I whisked him out of his seat and up the stairs to my room. Luckily, I was followed by our friend, and fellow parent of multiples, Michael Parker, who is a firefighter and former paramedic. He took a look at Finnegan's poor hand and advised me to get him to a doctor.
My mom and I took Finn to the urgent care down the street and I advised Gill to let the party continue. Finn was treated for his burns, and bandaged up. When we returned home, I brought him to his nursery to try to calm him down (he had been screaming the entire time we were gone). I stripped him down to his diaper, don't know why kids are alway happier naked, and read him his favorite book "I love you through and through". And, after a while, we returned to the party. I fed my injured, naked, one year old cake (icing) and announced at that very moment, "We have a new tradition - no lit birthday candles from now on!"
Last year the tradition began. All our guests had been to the party the previous year. We all laughed about our family tradition as we sang "Happy Birthday" to the boys with not a matchbook in sight.
Finnegan loved every minute of his birthday cupcake and obviously didn't miss the candle.
This year, Finn and Patrick having been talking about their party for weeks. They tell me how they can't wait to play with their friends, to get balloons, to eat cupcakes, and to blow out their candles. I have no idea where they got the notion that they are getting candles!! They have gone to several birthdays recently and seen other kids do it.
That's my dilemma. In 10 hours, the boys' birthday party will begin and a decision will have to be made. Do I stick with tradition and cut the wick off the #3 candles or do I break tradition and let my big boys blow out their candles while I wish for no visits to emergency rooms?
Stay tuned...
