Family traditions add local twist to birthday celebrations


Story by Mara Knaub


tradition of birthday parties start- ed? According to www.birthdaycele


B


brations.net, the tradition started in Europe thousands of years ago when people thought birthdays attracted evil spirits. People believed that good wishes and presents from family and friends kept them away. Noisemakers were also thought to scare away the bad spirits. Another tradition, the lighting of


candles, also originated with people believing that “by lighting candles and torches, they were sending a signal or prayer to the gods,” according to www.birthdaycelebrations.net. They believed the smoke of the


irthdays have long been cel-


ebrated, but do you know how the


extinguished candles carried their prayers and wishes up to the gods. While traditions vary across


the world, local children’s parties usually involve friends, balloons, presents and a cake topped with a candle for each year of the birthday child’s life. Everyone sings the “Happy Birthday” song and then the birthday child blows out the candles. Tradition says that if they blow out the candles in one breath, their secret wish will come true. According to www.birthdaycele


brations.net, American birthdays in- clude giving children “spankings,” a tradition originally based on super- stition but now considered more of a birthday prank. “Hundreds of years ago, span-


kings were given for each year of the birthday child’s life. Beyond that number, a child received another spanking to grow on, one to live on, one to eat on, one to be happy, and yet another spanking to get married


on,” the website explains. But different cultures


celebrate in different ways. In Yuma, Mexican piñatas are a big part of children’s birthday parties. Piñatas are usually made out of paper maché in the form of animals or, more often nowadays, cartoon characters. They are filled with goodies and hung from the ceiling. The birthday child is blindfolded and hits the piñata with a stick until it breaks open. All the goodies fall out and everyone shares in the bounty. In the Mexican culture, families


will usually sing “Las Mañanitas” the morning of the person’s birthday. Another Mexican birthday tradition is to chant “mordida! mordida!” (which means “bite! bite!”) after the candles are blown out. The birthday person is expected to take the first bite of the cake with their hands at their back and then their face is


inevitably jammed into the cake. Of course, some local families


have their own traditions. Reporter Joyce Lobeck notes that she often “sees a lot of families at the park with those blow-up jumper things and piñatas.” John Vaughn, editor of Bajo El


Sol, admitted that birthdays in his family include their pets. “Whenever it’s my wife’s or my birthday, we give each other birthday cards from our dog, signed in the dog’s name,” he


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