Oo nga. What is the significance kapag 3rd birthday?
3rd birthday is like the first ever celebration for a child.
We did a study on this. Nag-interview kami ng 20 kids in a nursery class, ages from 4 to 5 years old, as to how was their first, second, and third birthday celebration.
First – the excitement is present pero all their stories are based on what they saw from pictures and they watched from video that was taken during the party... yung iba naman, based on the stories of their parents… so yung personal experience na masasabi is not really present.
Second – vaguely remembered pa rin… madalas name-mix na nila with other celebrations they had… plus more often than not, super simple na lang or possibly, it wasn’t celebrated at all.
Third – the excitement gets back, but way more than what they felt nung nagkukuwento sila about their first birthday celebration… you can even see the glow in their eyes… as in para silang nagpa-flash back and hoping to experience it again… kahit kung ia-analyze, the celebration was more simplier than that of what they had during their first.
Another observation was during our daughter’s first birthday celebration. It was a celebration na lahat talaga kami in the family eh may participation sa preparation on the day itself. We were busy setting up the venue then with my brother. Kasama din namin wife niya while their daughter was playing around the area.
She was turning 3 then in 2 months time. Everytime na may makikita siya na gusto niya, tumitigil siya sa paglalaro and will tell me, “tita, sa birthday ko, meron din akong ganito” and will ask affirmation from her parents, “di ba Mama? di ba Papa?” and her parents will agree with her.
A week before her birthday, kinumusta ko how’s their preparation. Wala naman palang celebration na mangyayari. Tumatango lang pala sila just for the sake na matigil lang sa pangungulit ang anak nila. Just like most of us, 7th birthday ang dapat na bonggang celebration after the 1st one. Hindi naman na daw maaalala ng anak nila yun.
“D” day, came, parehong may work ang parents niya. During her morning playtime, she keeps on telling her playmates na it’s her birthday and she’s excited kasi may ganito siya, may ganyan siya and she were referring dun sa mga sinasabi niyang meron siya during our daughter’s 1st birthday celebration.
It totally broke my heart. Di ko masabi sa kanya na nothing like that will happen. So what we did, cooked spaghetti na lang for merienda. Then Dada left home and bought cake from Goldilocks, Ice cream from a nearby grocery and a few balloons enough dun sa mga batang nasa paligid ng house namin. We set up yung living room ng house ng mother ko (isang compound po kasi kami). Nag-lettering lang kami ng “happy birthday” sa cartolina. A few crepe paper here and there. And there you go. Pinagbihis lang namin siya ng best dress niya tapos lahat kami naka-pangbahay lang. Ha-ha. Sang the birthday song and let her blow the candles on the cake.
After everything, sabi niya, it was her best birthday ever. She’s now almost 8 yrs old, at yun pa rin ang lagi niyang ikinukuwento sa mga kalaro niya with the same excitement and overwhelming feeling.