The Sidney herald., 1956-05-10

/ have never had what you
might call a delft touch with
birthday parties. I've given plen-
ty OF them, oh, my, yes: both Del
and Sam had one every year be-
ginning with the third birthday
and continuing through the I1th,
You'd think / would have caught
on, but / never seemed to get
the hang of 1t. Now / have to
begin all over again with Edwin
and / tell you frankly I'm not
looking forward to 1t.
I always clean the house care
fully before the gala event -
and please don't ask me why.
It's a ridiculous gesture II I ever
saw one: five minutes after the
little guests arrive and grab their
balloons or paper hats, the whole
house looks as though a genera
ton OF pigs had been born, lived,
and died there.
The cake always gives me
trouble, too. 1t Says or burns, and
the frosting Is too runny, and I
never have enough candles of the
same color. Zone time I did: Dell
was three and her cake boasted
three beautiful pink candles un-
TIL Sam ate them. It didn't hurt
him a bit, but 1t wasn't good for
the cake.) Even If the cake
tastes good, It never appeals TO
my young visitors; they push 1t
around on their plates awhile and
hen feed it to the dog or hide
AZ under the piano.
Once. determined to avoid the
inevitable wreckage and spillage
that accompanies an inside party,
I decided to have a weiner roast
in the park. (This was in Pampa,
Texas). I shall never forget that
day 1t was April q, 1852,
Sans ninth birthday, and the
sand blew for twenty-four hours
with gusts OF wind up to eighty
miles an hour.
/ have difficulty thinking OF
games to play, too. The only one
I know is Drop the Handker-
chief, and nobody seems to like
1t much. At least nobody that
comes to my house does.
And then the small birthday
p~arty-goers themselves are often
difficult. There's always the one
who won't play anything at all;
the one who wants to boss the
whole show; and the one who
won't do anything but stand in
the kitchen and talk to me all
afternoon.
Now that Dell and Sam have
reached the age of reason, things
are different. They enjoy having
a friend In for dinner or to spend
the night; and so do I. It's Ed
win I'm worrying about. / do
have a choice though; / can
have birthday parties for him and
be a nervous wreck; or / can
mot have birthday parties for him
and be a monster. I wonder
which it will be?
Had to replenish my pitiful
of dishcloths the other
day and 1t set me thinking of
the time we lived In Colombia,
S. A. We had to lug a two-years'
OF everything with us,
dishcioths included. I had ei9h-
teen or SO OF Woolworth's flash
lest ,(this was before the time
OF the kitchen Sponge), and the
maid, Maria, promptly placed
them on the arms and backs OF
every chair and couch in the
She thought those dish
cloths were by far the most ele-
CANT things / had brought from
the States. (Six assorted cheese
ran them a close second
N her estimation.) ..
I have long admired Anne Nor
-ow Lindbergh, and along with
he rest OF Dumas (the women
anyway / thoroughly enjoyed
her Gift from the Sea. A purely
novel, dt required a
good deal of concentration while
-eading. Fact Is, / had to limit !
to a certain number of
pages a day In order to under
;tand and digest her ideas. F..
Most OF us long for an I'M {.
Uttered, uncluttered existence
md perhaps Mrs. Lindberg's 4
suggestions may help us attain ]
nl A------- /,