We love celebrating Jackson's birthday and we look forward to it every year! This year was different though, Jackson was excited for his birthday this year too! He started practicing singing "Happy Birthday" to himself in both English and Arabic months before the actual day. He didn't hesitate to prepare his list of "I want this!" months before. He included everything he saw on TV (and by everything I mean even the infomercials about spray hoses for the garden). LOL
A week or so before his birthday I posted on the Expat Women in Egypt Facebook group asking for suggestions on custom made cakes for his birthday. Since he was excited we were going to go all out for him this year. A woman contacted me via Facebook and told that she makes custom cakes and had a Facebook page. I check it out reluctantly. I mean, anyone could say they can make cakes but I wanted someone special AND look good. I also wanted something that tasted like back home. Cakes here in Egypt are typically tasteless or gobs of sugar are packed into it you get 20 cavities by just looking at it. I checked out her page The Honey Bee (https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Honey-Bee/263765557009613?fref=ts) the cakes and cupcakes looked amazing! We were sold and asked her to prepare a Spiderman one.
A few days before his birthday we went to HyperOne, Kids Island, Spinney's and other locations searching for all of his items to make the party worth wild. I am such an amazing mom I even got tons of balloons for him (I am terrified of balloons) and decorated the house while he was in bed the night before.
The night before his birthday his cousin Amr came over to paint his wall. Amr is an amazing art that often works on movie and sitcom sets designing and creating the scenery. We asked him to come and paint a large Spiderman on his bedroom wall. It was completed about 6 hours later and it was so much better than we could have ever imagined!! It included not only Spiderman's face but also the backdrop was a city at night. There were glow-in-the-dark starts placed in the sky.
When Jackson woke up in the morning we escorted him to his bedroom for him to look at the wall. We expected him to have an "out of body" experience being overwhelmingly excited about the outcome like we were. Instead, he was very subdued. In a monotone voice he said, "Wow. It looks nice."
His reaction was a let down, to say the least.
After seeing his bedroom we allowed him to go to the living room where his new blue shiny bicycle waited for him. He quickly perked up (I think because he was more awake by this point) and ran to it. He climbed on it and tried to peddle it away. He was very happy for this gift.
Later in the day family came over the for the birthday party. It was supposed to start at 7pm (since that is Jackson's bedtime) because I didn't want it to be too late. We are in Egypt and forgot about Egyptian time, so therefore, everyone showed up at 9pm. While waiting Jackson became very sad and asked several times why no one liked him and why no one wanted to come for his birthday. It was heartbreaking to hear. I became furious with everyone and wasn't very friendly during the whole party.
Overall, Jackson was happy with the day and his gifts. That is all that really matters. It was HIS day!
A week or so before his birthday I posted on the Expat Women in Egypt Facebook group asking for suggestions on custom made cakes for his birthday. Since he was excited we were going to go all out for him this year. A woman contacted me via Facebook and told that she makes custom cakes and had a Facebook page. I check it out reluctantly. I mean, anyone could say they can make cakes but I wanted someone special AND look good. I also wanted something that tasted like back home. Cakes here in Egypt are typically tasteless or gobs of sugar are packed into it you get 20 cavities by just looking at it. I checked out her page The Honey Bee (https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Honey-Bee/263765557009613?fref=ts) the cakes and cupcakes looked amazing! We were sold and asked her to prepare a Spiderman one.
A few days before his birthday we went to HyperOne, Kids Island, Spinney's and other locations searching for all of his items to make the party worth wild. I am such an amazing mom I even got tons of balloons for him (I am terrified of balloons) and decorated the house while he was in bed the night before.
The night before his birthday his cousin Amr came over to paint his wall. Amr is an amazing art that often works on movie and sitcom sets designing and creating the scenery. We asked him to come and paint a large Spiderman on his bedroom wall. It was completed about 6 hours later and it was so much better than we could have ever imagined!! It included not only Spiderman's face but also the backdrop was a city at night. There were glow-in-the-dark starts placed in the sky.
When Jackson woke up in the morning we escorted him to his bedroom for him to look at the wall. We expected him to have an "out of body" experience being overwhelmingly excited about the outcome like we were. Instead, he was very subdued. In a monotone voice he said, "Wow. It looks nice."
His reaction was a let down, to say the least.
After seeing his bedroom we allowed him to go to the living room where his new blue shiny bicycle waited for him. He quickly perked up (I think because he was more awake by this point) and ran to it. He climbed on it and tried to peddle it away. He was very happy for this gift.
Later in the day family came over the for the birthday party. It was supposed to start at 7pm (since that is Jackson's bedtime) because I didn't want it to be too late. We are in Egypt and forgot about Egyptian time, so therefore, everyone showed up at 9pm. While waiting Jackson became very sad and asked several times why no one liked him and why no one wanted to come for his birthday. It was heartbreaking to hear. I became furious with everyone and wasn't very friendly during the whole party.
Overall, Jackson was happy with the day and his gifts. That is all that really matters. It was HIS day!
