Backwards Birthday

Writing about our hay rides has reminded me of the only birthday party I had as a child. It was the year I turned 13. Mom decided I would have a Backwards Birthday Party. Maybe it was her way of saying how she felt about my becomming a teen. Mom set things up so we could be picked up after school and every girl in my class was invited. After school, when the busses had left, all of us had to turn our closthes around and wear them backwards. Mom and Dad picked us up in the stock truck at school. We walked out to the truck and then they made us walk up into the truck backwards. We sat in the truck with our backs to each other on two benches Dad had rigged down the middle of the truck bed for our ride to my house. We had to walk out of the truck backwards too. Mom lined us up in a single file and we walked into the house backwards. Holding on to each other, hands on shoulders, for balance and guidance.

Mom had even decided on games we could do backwards. One at a time, Mom had each of us reach into a bag she held behind our backs and feel several items. Then we had to write down what we believed was in the bag. Common things, like clothespins and hair brush, etc. The winner was the one who got the most right. Then one at a time, we had to write our name on a chalk board behind our back and vote on who did the best. Just try that if you don't think it will lead to giggles in a bunch of young girls. The third game involved a book of Tongue Twisters that Mom had. We each tried to read one of them from back to front without a single giggle. If we laughed while reading, we were "out" and the book was passed on to the next girl who had to read the very next tongue twister from the last word back to the first. Even if the words didn't get to us, the other girls antics made us laugh.

Mom didn't make us feed ourselves cake and ice cream from behind our backs. Instead, she had us in a circle and each girl had to feed the girl in front of her. So our food was coming from behind us and had to find our mouths. She only made us do that with the first bite each of cake and ice cream. Then we were allowed to enjoy the rest normally. As if anything would be normal by then.

She also made me sit with my back to the girls and open the gifts behind my back. I heard the "oohh's and aahh's" and comments that just kept getting sillier with each gift before I was allowed to look at the gift.

At the end of the party, when folks started to arrive, some of the girls went home still wearing their clothes backwards and others just wanted to put their clothes right. I think either way, they had a good time. The party was talked about at school for a long, long time. I don't know how I could have almost forgotten it, but I haven't thought of that in a long time.