If you recognize the title, you have young children or a great appreciation for the finer points of children's literature and film. It is, of course, from Alice in Wonderland and is the song they sing at the Mad Hatter's tea party. My daughter loves that song and the cartoon movie.

I came home from work a little late last night, but still early enough to see the kids, happily. It was my daughter's unbirthday yesterday and she turned exactly three and a half. I congratulated her and wished her a happy unbirthday. She got excited and asked me, "is it really my unbirthday today?" And I told her it was and she responded, "well, then why don't I have a hat?" A good question, I felt and I didn't have an answer but, fortunately, my wife was there and she did have an answer. Her answer consisted of constructing a birthday crown out of green construction paper. The girl child was most satisfied and set about decorating her crown with crayons. We drew the line, however, at the glitter glue since I did not want to see it all over her pj's. She stayed up late with us while we had dinner and fiddled with her crown which she liked despite the lack of glitter. I put her to bed and told her that she had to go straight to sleep tonight because I was going to sleep now, too. (How pathetic. My bedtime last night was the same as her bedtime.) Well, she didn't go straight to sleep and I didn't really expect her to. I could hear her through the monitor as she sang quietly to and chatted with her stuffed animals. I went back in and asked her why she was not yet asleep. She held up a bright pink flamingo and explained: "The Flamingo is making too much noise and keeping me up". Huh. What do you say to that? I told her to tell the flamingo to quiet down. She said she would and I told her that she had to do it now, right in front of me. She shot me a considering look and complied anyway. I was sure that if I didn't see/hear her do it, we'd have more flamingo action. After that, peace and quiet reigned.

To all of you who managed to get this far today, I wish you all a very merry unbirthday:

March Hare: Imagine, just one birthday every year.

Mad Hatter: Ahhh, but there are 364 unbirthdays!

March Hare: Precisely why weÂ’re gathered here to cheer!

Alice: Why, then today is my unbirthday too!

March Hare: It is?

Mad Hatter: What a small world this is.

March Hare: In that case... a very merry unbirthday.

Alice: To me?

Mad Hatter: To you!

March Hare: A very merry unbirthday.

Alice: For me?

Mad Hatter: For you! Now blow the candle out, my dear and make your wish come true! He he he!

March Hare & Mad hatter: A very merry unbirthday to you!

Posted by: Random Penseur at 08:19 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
Post contains 518 words, total size 3 kb.

1 My Mom would sporadically have unbirthday parties for us when we were young. Wonderful memories there, RP. Thanks.

Posted by: Jim at July 13, 2004 08:50 AM (IOwam)

2 My sister was born 2 days after my unbirthday, and so I always think of her when I hear this song. Thanks for reminding me of it, and for the rest of the words!

Posted by: Mandalei at July 13, 2004 09:03 AM (nemUU)

3 I'm so glad we're not the only ones! Jim, thanks again for all your help! Amanda, WELCOME HOME!

Posted by: RP at July 13, 2004 09:06 AM (LlPKh)

4 RP, My unbirthday falls on my father's birthday, so I've always celebrated it as a true half-birthday. Glad I'm not the only one! Thanks for sharing! How do you like your new digs, BTW?

Posted by: Grammar Queen at July 13, 2004 12:13 PM (gDEwS)

5 That song is completely stuck in my head now. Thanks.

Posted by: Helen at July 14, 2004 04:52 AM (LlkAL)

6 Sorry, Helen! Still, there are worse tunes, aren't there? GQ: Let me know when it is and I'll send you a card.

Posted by: RP at July 14, 2004 09:43 AM (LlPKh)

7 Random, that story reminds me of when Lucy was around the same age and had hurt her cat somehow. I asked her to tell her kitty she was sorry for hurting her. She stuck her lower lip out and said no, shaking her head. I insisted and she blew up. "She can't TALK, MOMMY! She can't UNDERSTAND ME! SHE'S A CAT!" I was taken aback, since this was the little girl who talked to her dolls. Dolls could understand her but the cat couldn't? After I thought about it, it made a type of sense. The dolls were completely pretend-creatures, but the cat was real. Therefore, the cat couldn't understand, but the imaginary dolls could. Ah well..she seems to have grown up to be okay, except today she talks to her cats instead of dolls. Huh? ;-)

Posted by: Amber at July 14, 2004 01:19 PM (zQE5D)

8 Could someone send me the lyrics to the song they sang at the Mad hatter's unbirthday party?

Posted by: Gretel at January 22, 2005 03:10 PM (CA/+P)

Hide Comments | Add Comment