Lilacs and Popcorn in Newspaper Cones
Which holiday is this? My favorite!
In Miss Congeniality, Miss Rhode Island is asked what her favorite date is. For the sake of the film’s hilarity, she misunderstands and answers, “I would have to say April 25th….” The audience laughs. The film rolls on.
Seriously, however, do you have a perfect date? I do. That date is May first, also known as May Day.
How many people know about May Day? It seems to be a forgotten holiday. An old world tradition glimpsed in the faded blue eyes of an elderly woman who, for a few moments on May first, remembers her younger days. It is a whispered conversation of secret candy-filler comparisons between the select parents whose formative years were spent performing May Day kindnesses and now want to instill that tradition in their own children. In the smallest and newest generation of those who are learning to hold the May Day baton, May Day is an after lights out muffled giggling retelling between siblings who fall asleep only to wake up the next day with the idea of May Day already fading. May Day is becoming a lost spring kindness holiday.
My Childhood May Day
My childhood home embraced May Day as preciously as we seeded the garden. Just as each seed received a pat of encouragement when pushed into the ground, so were our May Day cones of love and spring hope delivered as carefully. We would wrap newspaper into paper cones, fill them with popcorn. Mom gently added fresh cut lilac blossoms, their stems wrapped with wet paper towels and aluminum foil to keep the popcorn dry. Off we would run to our targeted houses. We embraced this one day of the year where we could ding-dong-ditch a house without consequence. Who would not get caught? Who would?
My Children’s May Day
As a young mother of three rambunctious tumbling children under the age of 5, the idea of May Day was, for them, hard to swallow.
· Sneak over to the neighbor lady’s house?
They were never allowed to sneak anything.
· Hang a candy basket on her door?
Couldn’t they eat the candies themselves?
· Run away without waiting?
Wasn’t that rude?
“Think of it as being Santa Claus,” I said. You are delivering the gifts like Santa.”
That reasoning put everything into perspective. Now there was excitement.
I instructed my children in the ancient art of rolling newspaper into a cone. A piece of tape was applied. A handle was attached with staples. Popcorn was popped. Some was eaten. Most of it made it into the cone. Lavender lilacs were laid on top. One child was put in charge of carrying the cone and off they went.
On their own.
Without parental supervision.
From the expressions on their faces, they now knew how it felt to be a bit more grown-up, a bit more responsible to carry out a good deed, and a bit scared to be out in the big wide world without me.
They cautiously stepped forward, thereby accepting the challenge.
While I called the neighbor and asked her to please not answer her door, I watched three toddling almost kindergarteners become the worst super ninjas ever to perform the May Day task. I heard the giggling through my closed windows. They pulled out all the knowledge they had picked up from Max and Ruby, Kipper, Blue’s Clues, and Backyardigans to loudly giggle and tumble their way over to my neighbor’s porch.
· There was a fight on the porch as to who got to hang the May Day cone.
· There was a brawl to decide who would get to knock on the door.
· In the end, they all knocked, yelled trick-or-treat! And ran.
The presentation was a bit confusing, but back they tumbled laughing wildly. The mission was a success! My neighbor never came to the door. She would never know who left the cone of kindness. It was our secret. The three of them were the finest super ninjas ever. I praised them on their skills of stealth.
These days
Those three energetic and wild ninjas are all grown up now. Because of me, however, they have not forgotten May Day. We relive that memory of their very first ding-dong-ditch day. Nicely, they withhold any more recent stories regarding the ding-dong-ditch practice which were not performed for May Day. I am glad to be passing this tradition on to my children even if we don’t deliver lilacs and popcorn in newspaper cones every year anymore. The promise and dream are still there. My 3worst super ninjas will pass on their knowledge to others. May Day need not be forgotten.
Author’s Note
A symbolic newspaper cone filled with popcorn and lilacs to my mother as May Day is her favorite day of the year as well. Thanks for creating memories with us, Mom! Love, H
