Birthday parties only come once a year, of course, but there are other parties in between, afternoon teas on the piazza or in the playroom, or in the barn, if you are so fortunate as to have a barn. These parties oughtn’t to mean extra work for mother, for you can have them all yourself, if mother is willing.
So when she says, “Yes, you may have a party,” after you have hugged her, and told her she was the dearest mother in the world, you can begin to get ready.
“R. S. V. P.,” at the end, Means “an answer kindly send,” But a child who is polite, Knows she should an answer write.
FIRST of all, for the invitations. Choose your prettiest note paper, and don’t forget to write very plainly the date of the party. If you are just going to have a little afternoon tea, you can simply write,
“_Will you come to my house to tea on Friday afternoon, June sixth, at three o’ clock? I hope you can._
Or if you are going to have a larger party, you can write:
“_Miss Dorothy Manners requests the pleasure of your presence at her home on Friday afternoon, June sixth, from four until eight o’clock._
Be sure to send your invitations in time for your friends to write replies. Mother will need to know just how large a birthday cake to bake, and how much ice cream to freeze!
’Twill be a good plan (and there’s truth in my rhyme) To always begin to get ready in time.
IF you are going to have many parties, there are quite a number of things which you can keep on hand, all ready to use when you need them. An old trunk or box, or barrel will be nice to have on purpose for “dress-up” clothes. Put away in this all the old hats, and dresses, and shawls, in which mother lets you dress up. Then they’ll be safe, so that no one will throw or give them away by mistake, and you’ll always know just where to find them.
It is a good thing to have wooden picnic plates on hand, and these will be very useful for outdoor parties. Mother may object to your using her good china, for sometimes plates will get broken when you are just as careful as you know how to be. So you can decorate your wooden plates very prettily by cutting out the flowers or figures which are on paper napkins, and pasting them on the plates. Then they will do nicely for your lawn or piazza parties.