mid-autumn lantern fun

We had some kids over last Saturday for some lantern fun. It was a good excuse to get together with the neighbours and also to satisfy my love for throwing parties (well it wasn't really a party but you get my drift).

I still have loads of paper lanterns from a couple years back and an electric one which I bought for H when he was 1 year old. I've been recycling them year after year - these things really last forever! This year I thought I'd get the kids new lanterns. It's crazy how much laterns cost these days. I paid almost RM18 each for the angry bird lanterns, and these are the typical wire and glass paper type lanterns from China. Imagine the profit margins!

Anyway I was really excited about the lanterns. I was quite certain that H and L would be thrilled when they see the cute angry bird lanterns. It turned out that H was more interested in the stick - he only wanted to play with the bamboo stick, while L preferred the traditional paper type lantern. The other kids were more excited with the ride-ons we have in our front porch. They were happily riding the cars/bikes and chasing each other. The adults were the ones busy lighting up the lanterns. But we did make the kids carry their lanterns for a short walk to the nearby playground. Can't really call it a lantern party without actually doing a lantern walkabout right? So that short walk was the only time the kids played with their lanterns. They were distracted when they got to the playground - more running about and chasing each other; and when they got back, they immediately went back to chasing each other on the ride-ons.

I wonder what is the difference between kids our days and kids these days. I remember we used to love playing with candles and lanterns, and everyone around the neighbourhood will be out and about with their lanterns (not just on the day itself but almost every other night before the festival). These days, you can hardly spot any kids with lanterns. Which is why all the more important we have to make it a point to organise such get-togethers lest the kids forget their cultural roots. Perhaps next year, I should also get my sis (who couldn't make it to the party that day) to tell the story of how the mooncake festival came about. I doubt many people know, I certainly don't and neither did any of my other guests :-)