The Waldorf method of celebrating a child's special day
SUPAWADEE INTHSWONG
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Children and their parents celebrate a Waldorf birthday. |
The birthday girl on her way to extinguish the candles. |
Parents tend to have their own ways of celebrating the birthdays of their children.
While some parents throw extravagant parties or give expensive gifts, others would rather wake their children early in the morning for alms-giving.
Schools, too, have their own ways for birthday celebrations and such activities can be valuable tools to teach children how to appreciate things taken for granted.
Raywadee Tanompangpan, principal of Saensanuk Tridhaksa Bangmod School, said her school believes that birthday parties are important to children, but it does not allow them to be extravagant or luxurious. The school asks the child's parents for three promises: Attend the party, no birthday gifts and bring pictures of the child.
The birthday boy or girl is allowed to dress as a prince or princess, wear a royal crown and silk mantle. The child sits together with their parents, while all other friends sit around them in a circle. The class teacher will then recite the birth story, which tells of the love of the parents and the expectation of a child's birth.
This particular story is part of the Waldorf teaching approach. The story is about how all children are angels in heaven before they are born as babies on Earth. Having watched the Earth and seeing parents look after their children with love and care, the angels wanted to be born, too. So, they began accumulating good deeds in order to be able to be born on Earth with loving parents. Once they became babies, other angels would continue to take care of them from heaven.
The loving parents, too, were waiting for the birth. Once their child was born, they gave him or her their first birthday gift, which is a name.
The Waldorf birth story then allows the parents to explain the meaning of a child's name and the reasons why they chose the name. They will also tell how they raise their children.
"All of this is designed to encourage the child to appreciate the value of life and the value of having been born. Then the child will feel that their existence is meaningful, no matter what conditions they were born into, as some children are different. They might think they are weak, sad, or do not deserve to be born as they feel they are a burden to their parents,'' said Raywadee.
''Some parents scold the children often, resulting in children not believing in themselves. But the Waldorf story can make the children feel valued as they all were angels in heaven who were embodied with goodness. And because of their goodness, they were born on Earth and they were supposed to continue doing good deeds.''
If the child is celebrating his or her's third birthday, the parents will light four candles. When the candles are burning, the parents will tell the story of the child's development through each year and things that are memorable to them. Once they finish each year, they will extinguish a candle. The parents can also use pictures that they bring to the party to show to the other children.
The last candle represents the year to ahead. The parents will have a chance to bless the child and wish good things for the child, such as being able to use the spoon, eat a lot of vegetables, put on shoes, or have a lot of friends and good health. No gift will be given as the birthday present.
The child's friends, too, will give him their blessings as birthday presents. The children can help each other to come up with blessings such as wishing for the birthday child to be able to dress himself, or draw better, or enjoy playing with play-dough.
''This method can not only reassure the children of their values, but also remind them that at every birthday they have to continue to do more good deeds. Birthdays should not be just an excuse to have fun and indulge one's self, but should also be remembered as a good start of a new year. As the children grow, they will try to do more good deeds,'' said Raywadee.
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