Karen's Half-Birthday

by Ann M. Martin

  “But it will be fun to be a dinosaur. Maybe all three of us can wear the costume,” I said.

  Hannie and Nancy just shook their heads.

  Hmm. I did not know who else I could ask to be a dinosaur with me. But I was sure I would find someone. Especially after everyone saw how my costume turned out. All I had to do was make it.

  The Three Musketeers got to work. Hannie and Nancy had each brought the supplies they needed.

  Hannie was marking up a T-shirt with black and gold spots.

  Nancy was wearing a red cape her mother had let her borrow. She was making paper goodies to carry in her basket for Granny.

  I was drawing a dinosaur face on an old pillow case Mommy had given me.

  We were going to need grown-up help with our costumes later. But for now we were doing fine on our own.

  “Do you think this is enough spots?” asked Hannie.

  Nancy and I looked at the T-shirt Hannie was holding up.

  “I think you need more,” I replied.

  “Me, too,” said Nancy. “How do I look in my cape?”

  “You look like you popped right out of a storybook,” said Hannie.

  “What about my costume?” I asked. “Did I make my dinosaur face too scary? I do not want little kids to cry.”

  “I think your dinosaur looks kind of cute,” said Hannie.

  “Thank you,” I replied. Sniff sniff. “Do I smell plants in that basket of goodies you are bringing to Granny? Ultrasauruses were plant eaters, you know.”

  I jumped up and started chasing Nancy around the room.

  “Help!” cried Nancy. “An ultrasaurus is after me!”

  Getting Ready

  “Happy half birthday to me! Happy half birthday to me! Happy half …”

  I stopped singing the song halfway through. It was Saturday morning. The day of my party. I could hardly wait for my guests to arrive. But first I had things to do. I threw on some old clothes and went downstairs.

  “Good morning, half birthday girl,” said Seth. “Come have some breakfast.”

  While we ate we talked about the things that needed to be done. Baking and icing the cake. Decorating the living room. Filling goody bags. Dressing for the party.

  “I should have woken up hours ago,” I said. “We have a lot to do!”

  I gobbled down my breakfast. Then Mommy and I got to work baking the cake. I had decided on white layer cake with vanilla cream filling, and pink and white icing.

  Mommy told me which ingredients to take out. I put eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and sugar on the table. Mommy and I measured and mixed the ingredients together.

  “It says in our cookbook that we have to bake the cake for half an hour,” said Mommy.

  “That is perfect!” I said. “Half an hour for my half birthday cake. I am going to help Seth now.”

  I raced to the living room. Andrew was already helping to put up decorations. There were streamers and balloons everywhere.

  “Wait! The decorations should only be on one half of the room,” I said.

  “Sorry. We forgot,” replied Seth.

  The three of us took down the decorations on the left side of the room and put them all up on the right.

  Just as we were finishing, the bell on the timer in the kitchen went off. I raced back to join Mommy.

  “We can make the icing while the cake is cooling,” said Mommy.

  We made two bowls of icing. One pink and one white. Mommy let me lick one of the spoons.

  “Mmm. Delicious,” I said. “Remember, we have to cut the cake in half.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” asked Mommy.

  “Yes!” I replied. “Half a cake for my half birthday.”

  “All right,” said Mommy. And she cut the cake right down the middle.

  Next on the list were the goody bags. I filled them halfway with little half-filled boxes of candy.

  Then it was time to get dressed. I put on a pink and white striped T-shirt to go with the pink and white icing. I wore a black jumper and maroon party tights. On my left foot I put on a sneaker. On my right foot I put on a black patent party shoe. I made the left side of my hair into a pigtail. I combed the right side of my hair down and put a pink party barrette in it. I found a pair of white gloves in my drawer and put on only the right-hand glove.

  “I am ready!” I called.

  I ran downstairs to wait for my guests.

  Grumpy Guests

  The kids started showing up at twelve-thirty. (That is twelve o’clock and half an hour.)

  Some of them forgot to wear only half party clothes. I suggested that they take some stuff off. But they did not like that idea too much.

  “Who wants to play Pin the Tail on the Donkey?” I asked.

  Everyone wanted to play. Seth had drawn half a donkey and taped it to the wall. I was blindfolded first because I was the party girl.

  Nancy and Hannie turned me around three times, then pointed me in the right direction. I taped the tail onto the donkey. When I took off my blindfold I found out why everyone was laughing.

  “You put the tail on his ear!” said Ricky.

  Nancy pinned the tail to his nose. Hannie pinned it on his side. When it was Ricky’s turn, he missed the donkey altogether.

  I waited till half the kids had a turn. Then I called, “Game over!”

  “But it was my turn,” said Jannie.

  “Sorry, we are only playing half games today. Maybe you will have a turn next game,” I said.

  We had a funny face relay next. The kids split into two teams. Two big pieces of paper were taped to the wall with an outline of a head on each. Each player had to draw one part of a face. Eyes, ears, nose, mouth. The team that finished the face first won.

  “On your mark, get set, go!” I said.

  I drew the first eye for my team. Omar drew a nose. The next player drew an ear. The next player drew a mouth.

  “Time’s up!” I called.

  “But we did not finish our face yet,” said Bobby.

  “You know the rules,” I said. “Half games only.”

  We played half of two more games. A few kids seemed grumpy. I heard Sara say she did not want to start another game she could not finish. Ricky wanted to win a prize.

  I was happy when Seth came in and said, “It is time for the cake.”

  He turned out the lights and Mommy carried in half a cake with four candles. (If I had a whole birthday cake, I would have had eight candles — seven and a half and half for good luck.)

  My guests started singing as soon as they saw the cake.

  “Happy half birthday to you! Happy half birthday to you! Happy …”

  “Cut!” I called. “You can only sing half the song.”

  The kids stopped singing and started eating their cake. Mommy brought out ice cream and cookies, too.

  “May I have a glass of water?” asked Natalie.

  “Only half,” I replied.

  “Excuse me. Where is your bathroom, please?” said Jannie.

  “It is over there,” I said. “But, remember, you can only go …”

  “Do not even say it, Karen Brewer,” said Jannie.

  She stomped off to the bathroom.

  I thought I was making a funny joke. So did Hannie and Nancy.

  “I do not think your guests are being good sports,” whispered Hannie. “A half birthday party is a cool idea. I am having fun.”

  “Me, too,” said Nancy. “But maybe you are being a little bit bossy. That could be why some of the kids are grumpy.”

  I thought Nancy might be right. I promised myself I would try to be less bossy. That way, the rest of my party would be perfect.

  Not-So-Goody Bags

  After refreshments, it was time for me to open my presents. Yea! Since they were only half presents anyway, I decided I could open all of them.

  I opened Hannie’s present first. She gave me half a pair of striped socks and a card with only half the words written on it.
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br />   “I will give you the other sock when you turn eight,” she said.

  Nancy gave me half a gift certificate to the Unicorn Toy Store and a birthday card that she had cut in half right down the middle.

  “We can go to the toy store next week,” said Nancy. “We can use the gift certificate as long as we tape it back together.”

  I could see Hannie and Nancy had fun getting me my presents. That made me like the things they gave me even more. Most of the other kids were grumbling about how hard it had been thinking up half a present.

  Grumble, grumble, grumble.

  I got half a deck of cards, half a set of jacks, even half a Barbie outfit. I thought the presents were really neat. I did not know what the fuss was about.

  “Thank you, everyone. I like all the gifts a lot,” I said. (I was trying my best to be nice and not bossy.)

  A few kids managed to say, “You’re welcome.” The rest of the kids were acting like spoilsports. I decided it was time for a game.

  “Who wants to play hide-and-seek?” I asked.

  “I do!” called Hannie and Nancy together.

  No one else even answered.

  “Does anyone want to go outside and play in the tree house?” I asked.

  “You will probably let us go halfway up, then make us come back down again,” said Jannie.

  I could see that most of the kids had made up their minds not to have a good time at my party.

  We listened to a couple of tapes until it was time for my guests to leave. On the way out, I handed them each a goody bag.

  “Thank you for coming,” I said. “Here is your goody bag.” (I was still trying to be nice.)

  Bobby looked into his half-filled bag.

  “You should call these not-so-goody bags,” he said.

  I heard another kid say, “What a rip-off!”

  I was glad my half birthday party was over.

  Half Day

  When I walked into class on Monday, Pamela said, “Good.”

  “Good what?” I said.

  “That is half of good morning,” Pamela replied. “That is all you get today.”

  “Huh?” I said.

  “Happy Half,” said Omar.

  “Happy half what?” I asked.

  “Haven’t you heard?” said Bobby. “Today is Half Day. It is in honor of your half birthday.”

  “The birthday you only invited half your friends to celebrate,” said Leslie.

  “And they only got to play half games and get half goody bags,” said Addie.

  “And they got bossed around,” said Jannie.

  Uh-oh. I was in a whole lot of trouble with my classmates. Before I had a chance to answer them, Ms. Colman walked in and asked us to take our seats.

  After attendance, Ms. Colman said, “We are going to practice writing the script letter S. Leslie, would you please give out paper to everyone?”

  Leslie walked around the room handing out paper. When she got to my place, she made a big deal of tearing my piece down the middle.

  “This is all you get today. Half,” she said.

  I felt like telling Ms. Colman what was going on. But then everyone would tease me about being a baby.

  I got half of everything all morning. At lunchtime, I wanted to trade sandwiches with Addie. She had cream cheese and grape jelly — lots of grape jelly. I had leftover turkey.

  “Want to trade?” I asked.

  “Sure,” replied Addie.

  I handed her my whole sandwich. But I only got halfsies back.

  “Happy Half Day,” said Addie.

  “You can share my sandwich,” said Nancy.

  “Thanks, but I am not so hungry anyway,” I said.

  Half Day was getting me down. I only got half a good morning, half a piece of paper, half a sandwich. I knew if I went out to the playground, the kids would only play half a game with me.

  “I am not going outside today,” I said to Hannie and Nancy. “I will stay here for recess.”

  “You should not worry about the other kids. We will play with you,” said Hannie.

  “That is okay. I feel like staying in,” I said.

  Thank goodness for Hannie and Nancy. They were the only ones not mad at me.

  I knew I owed my classmates an apology. I had made them feel bad even though I had not meant to. An apology would make them feel better. But I wanted to apologize without facing them.

  I knew just how to do it.

  Karen’s Apology

  I sneaked back to my classroom. A letter to the class had worked once. Maybe it would work again.

  I peeked into the room. The coast was clear. I sat at my desk and took out a piece of paper. I did not want to write the letter on the blackboard yet because I had a plan. It was a gigundoly good plan, too.

  When I finished writing my letter on the piece of paper, I reread it. I decided it was an A + letter.

  I was ready to go to the blackboard. I picked up a piece of chalk and began to write. Since my classmates had declared this Half Day, I wrote only the left half of my letter. It said:

  Dear classmates,

  I am sorry if I

  I did not mean to

  I just thought it would be fun

  I hope you will forgive

  Your

  Karen

  I checked my letter for spelling errors. Then I waited for my classmates to return from recess.

  They walked in one by one and stood in front of the blackboard. I watched them read my half letter.

  “Hey, I feel half better already!” said Addie.

  “Me, too,” said Bobby. “Now I am only half mad at you, Karen.”

  “Would you like to put the rest of your letter on the blackboard?” asked Ms. Colman. “I do not know exactly what is going on, but your letter seems to be working.”

  I went back to the blackboard and finished the letter I had started. It said:

  Dear classmates,

  I am sorry if I hurt your feelings.

  I did not mean to make you mad.

  I just thought it would be fun to celebrate my half birthday the way I did.

  I hope you will forgive me for not inviting some of you to my party and for being bossy.

  Your friend,

  Karen Brewer

  “Is there anything you would like to say to Karen before we return to our schoolwork?” asked Ms. Colman.

  The kids said they forgave me. They thought my letter was really cool, too.

  “I say we end Half Day since the day is half over anyway,” said Addie. “All in favor of ending Half Day, say I!”

  “I!” my classmates replied.

  I turned to Hannie and Nancy. They gave me the thumbs-up sign. Things were back to normal.

  The Dinosaur Solution

  It was a rainy Saturday afternoon. I was in my room reading about dinosaurs. I was also trying to solve my dinosaur problem. I still needed someone to be the back end of my dinosaur costume. Halloween was less than a week away.

  I decided to give my friends another chance.

  I called Nancy first.

  “Hi, Nancy,” I said when she answered. “I have been thinking about Halloween. Wouldn’t it be fun to be in a costume together? My dinosaur costume, for example.”

  “I guess. But my Little Red Riding Hood costume is all ready,” Nancy replied. “I am going to be dressed completely in red. I have a red shirt, red leggings, and I dyed a pair of my old sneakers red, too.”

  “Oh. Well, it sounds like a great costume,” I said.

  We decided to play later in the afternoon. Then I called Hannie.

  “Hi, Hannie,” I said when she answered. “Wouldn’t you like to be in a Halloween costume with me?”

  Hannie said she had just finished her leopard costume. She had put the tail on and everything.

  I told her the costume sounded great. Then I called David Michael at the big house.

  “Hi, David Michael,” I said. “I am making a dinosaur costume for Halloween. Do you want to b
e in the costume with me? I need someone to be the back end.”

  “No way!” replied David Michael. “I am not going to be the back end of a costume even if it is a dinosaur. Anyway, I already have a costume of my own. I am going to be Batman.”

  Boo and bullfrogs. Now who was I going to ask? I thought about asking some kids from my class. But they had probably planned their costumes already, too.

  I went downstairs to have a snack and think some more. While I was munching on an apple, Andrew walked into the kitchen. Hmm.

  “Hey, Andrew, do you have a Halloween costume yet?” I asked.

  “No. I do not know what to be,” Andrew replied.

  “Oh, really? You like dinosaurs, don’t you? You could be a dinosaur with me. You could be the back end of my costume,” I said.

  “I love dinosaurs!” said Andrew. “I will be the back end. Then I will get to go trick-or-treating with you!”

  I had not thought of that.

  “I will have to check with Mommy and Seth. And Hannie and Nancy, too,” I said. “Remember, we are going trick-or-treating by ourselves this year. We may not be able to bring a little kid like you along.”

  “Then who will be the back end of your costume?” asked Andrew.

  “I will go ask everyone right away,” I replied.

  Mommy and Seth and Hannie and Nancy all said it was okay for Andrew to come along.

  “See? You needed me,” said Andrew. “I guess I’m not such a baby after all.”

  He was still the baby of the little house. But he was also the solution to my dinosaur problem. Thank you, Andrew.

  Trick-or-Treat!

  “Come on, Andrew. Climb under,” I said. “And try not to let the tail drag.”

  It was Halloween. The dinosaur costume was ready. Andrew and I had practiced walking around the backyard. Now we were ready to go out into the street.

  I had wanted Andrew to be hidden inside the back end of my dinosaur. But Mommy and Seth made me cut a hole for his head. They said it was not safe for him to be walking around without seeing where he was going.

  That made us a two-headed ultrasaurus. There was no such thing, of course. But it looked kind of cool.