Birthdays

 

A birthday celebrates the date a person was born. On birthdays,

 

 family and friends celebrate by giving cards and gifts.

 

Sometimes, a party is held to celebrate. A party for children may

 

 include games such as 'musical chairs' and 'pass the parcel'.

 

The birthday cake is decorated with candles and everyone sings

 

 'Happy Birthday'. The birthday person blows out the candles and

 

 makes a birthday wish.

                                                  

Party food is eaten, which may include:     

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sausage rolls

              

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fairy bread

                     

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cakes

bullet fruit

 

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Weddings

 

A wedding is celebrated when two people are married. Family and

 

 friends are present when the bride (woman) and groom (man) make

 

 a promise to each other. Sometimes they may give each other a

 

  wedding ring to show  that they are will now spend their lives

 

 together.

Weddings can take place almost anywhere the couple feels is special

 

 to them. Some couples may marry in a church, others may marry in

 a park, on the beach or in a government office called a Registry

 Office.

 

A special meal is enjoyed by all the guests - this is called the 'wedding

 breakfast'.

Speeches are made and everyone takes home a piece of the wedding

 cake.

The bride may wear " something old, something new, something

 borrowed and something blue".

 

After the couple are married, rice or confetti ( coloured bits of paper)

 are thrown over the couple for good luck!

 

In European countries, the bride may wear a white dress, but in some

 Asian countries, she may wear a red dress as this is thought to be

 lucky.

 

At Greek weddings, everyone dances the 'kalamantiano'. Plates are

 smashed for good luck!

 

The couple may have a holiday after the wedding and this is called a

 "honeymoon". This word may have come from the honeyed wine that

 was drunk for the first month after marriage.

                                                

Mother's Day

 

 

Celebrated on the second Sunday in May, Mother's Day began  in

 

 Britain in the 1600's and was called

 

 "Mothering Sunday". It began as a day that allowed servants

 

 the day off to visit their mothers. By the 1800's it was

 

 forgotten, but began again after 1945.

 

Both Mother's and Father's Day are times when children may

 

 thank their parents by making a card or doing something

 

 special for them. The may make breakfast, do some

 

 housework, clean the car or give them a gift.

 

Father's Day

An idea came to Sonora Dodd in Washington, USA in 1909 as she was

 

 listening to a talk on Mother's Day. She wanted to do something

 

special for her father who raised six children on his own. So in 1910

 

 on June 19 ( her father's birthday month), she held the first Father's

 

 Day celebration.

 

Although this date (  the third Sunday in June) is celebrated in many

 

 countries, it is held on the first Sunday in September in Australia, and

 

 in March in Italy and Spain.

 

                            

 

Bibliograhy

"Mother's Day" Wikipedia:the free encyclopedia http://www.en.wikipedia.ord/ 1/10/06

Hilvert-Bruce, Zita Family Celebrations Macmillan Library, Sth Yarra, 2006

 

 

 

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