On birthdays in my family.
Feb. 15th, 2005 10:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xiphiasWhen I was very little -- maybe three, or even younger -- my parents got me a book called something like "The Birthday Hunt." It was a picture book, in an art style which I remember as being similar to Ezra Jack Keats's, although I don't think it actually was by Ezra Jack Keats. In this book, a little boy gets a note from his parents sending him on a hunt where he looks for various shapes, and ends up finding his birthday present, which was a puppy.
ETA: I am impressed, yet not at all surprised, that Lis found which book it was. It's The Secret Birthday Message by Eric Carle. End Of Edit
I loved ths book, and, even more, I loved the idea. So the next year, my parents started setting up "Birthday Hunts".
When I woke up in the morning, my parents gave me a piece of paper on which was a clue. For the first one, it was simply the location of the first present, written out, and I had to read it. That clue would lead to the location of the first present, with which would also be the second clue, leading to the location of the second present and third clue. And so on until I got all my birthday presents. Whatever the big present was -- a microscope, a bicycle, whatever -- that would be the last present.
As I got older, the clues, naturally, got harder. (And exponentially harder to create -- birthday hunts petered out in my teenage and college years, not because Leila and I didn't want them, but because my parents had come pretty much to the limit of their ability to CREATE clues. We need to befriend Will Shortz.) After I had a sister, we would each of us help create the birthday hunt for the other.
Leila, of course, created just plain unfair clues. Because she's a vicious, mean, nasty human being. (Can you tell I love and admire my sister?) The most unfair clue I ever got was written by her.
The clue was "Three Men." And there was a drawing of three stick figures, labeled something like "Huey, Dewey, and Louis". It wasn't that, but something like that. I immediately understood that the labeled stick figures were merely a red herring, and that the labels were just to throw me off (and was correct about that.)
Naturally, the present was hidden in the cereal cabinet.
Would you like me to explain the logic, such as it was?
See, the "three men" she was thinking of were Snap, Crackle, and Pop. Of course, we had no Rice Krispies in the house, and, in fact, our parents wouldn't buy it, since even Rice Krispies were considered too sweet a cereal for us. I mean, they'd get them OCCASIONALLY, but they sort of instinctively understood the concept of glycemic index, and knew that Rice Krispies metabolized to sugar instantly. So there WERE no Rice Krispies. Which was precisely WHY she thought "Three Men" would be a good clue.
I got her back, though, on her next birthday. I wrote the clue "On The Back Porch", and, as she picked it up, I said, "This is revenge for 'Three Men'."
She checked the doll house, book titles, videos, all over the place. She eventually had to give up, and couldn't solve the clue.
The present, of course, was on the back porch. She HATED me for that one. I was quite proud of it.
Lis has set up a couple birthday hunts for me in recent years. At one point, we were at my parents' house for my birthday, and Lis wrote the clues.
One clue was, "Eat ivy, too."
My parents thought this was an entirely unfair clue, and wanted Lis to write something easier. But Lis had faith in me.
When I found the clue, I immediately went to the closet in the front hall where out-of-season and ritual clothes were kept. And found the present. I got it instantly, and correctly. Mom and Dad were impressed, but Lis and I know how each other's minds work, which is why she knew I'd get it.
ETA: I am impressed, yet not at all surprised, that Lis found which book it was. It's The Secret Birthday Message by Eric Carle. End Of Edit
I loved ths book, and, even more, I loved the idea. So the next year, my parents started setting up "Birthday Hunts".
When I woke up in the morning, my parents gave me a piece of paper on which was a clue. For the first one, it was simply the location of the first present, written out, and I had to read it. That clue would lead to the location of the first present, with which would also be the second clue, leading to the location of the second present and third clue. And so on until I got all my birthday presents. Whatever the big present was -- a microscope, a bicycle, whatever -- that would be the last present.
As I got older, the clues, naturally, got harder. (And exponentially harder to create -- birthday hunts petered out in my teenage and college years, not because Leila and I didn't want them, but because my parents had come pretty much to the limit of their ability to CREATE clues. We need to befriend Will Shortz.) After I had a sister, we would each of us help create the birthday hunt for the other.
Leila, of course, created just plain unfair clues. Because she's a vicious, mean, nasty human being. (Can you tell I love and admire my sister?) The most unfair clue I ever got was written by her.
The clue was "Three Men." And there was a drawing of three stick figures, labeled something like "Huey, Dewey, and Louis". It wasn't that, but something like that. I immediately understood that the labeled stick figures were merely a red herring, and that the labels were just to throw me off (and was correct about that.)
Naturally, the present was hidden in the cereal cabinet.
Would you like me to explain the logic, such as it was?
See, the "three men" she was thinking of were Snap, Crackle, and Pop. Of course, we had no Rice Krispies in the house, and, in fact, our parents wouldn't buy it, since even Rice Krispies were considered too sweet a cereal for us. I mean, they'd get them OCCASIONALLY, but they sort of instinctively understood the concept of glycemic index, and knew that Rice Krispies metabolized to sugar instantly. So there WERE no Rice Krispies. Which was precisely WHY she thought "Three Men" would be a good clue.
I got her back, though, on her next birthday. I wrote the clue "On The Back Porch", and, as she picked it up, I said, "This is revenge for 'Three Men'."
She checked the doll house, book titles, videos, all over the place. She eventually had to give up, and couldn't solve the clue.
The present, of course, was on the back porch. She HATED me for that one. I was quite proud of it.
Lis has set up a couple birthday hunts for me in recent years. At one point, we were at my parents' house for my birthday, and Lis wrote the clues.
One clue was, "Eat ivy, too."
My parents thought this was an entirely unfair clue, and wanted Lis to write something easier. But Lis had faith in me.
When I found the clue, I immediately went to the closet in the front hall where out-of-season and ritual clothes were kept. And found the present. I got it instantly, and correctly. Mom and Dad were impressed, but Lis and I know how each other's minds work, which is why she knew I'd get it.