The Seven Roses

Our little gentleman got invited to the seventh birthday party of my godchild Alexie, who is the firstborn a friend of mine way back in high school. Although I am not so familiar with the reasons why a child’s 7th birthday seems so important among Filipino parents, I assumed that it is due to very good reasons.I asked a group of mommies for ideas about this, but none of them seemed to really know why, too. One interesting answer I got was from Leony and Kat who said that the tradition is not observed among the Visayans in Davao. Mommy Jingke on the other hand said it must be because 7 is the child’s school age when he gains new friends. After their answers, I had these assumptions:

1. A child’s seventh birthday is also the time of confirmation among Catholics, therefore the tradition may be religion-based.

2. The seventh year marks a child’s emotional and social growth as he becomes more independent and exposed to others apart from his immediate family.

Meanwhile, why the Tagalogs include The Seven Roses tradition in a girl’s seventh birthday may be patterned after Debutant celebrations.

Well, whatever the reason is, I felt happy for little Arvid Matthew who is now learning to socialize with other kids at age 4. Here are his other photos with his proud and happy dad.