Passing the Torch

I had this long-standing tradition with two of my university girlfriends; all three of us have birthdays within weeks of each other, so we've celebrated them together year after year, by going for high tea at the Four Seasons Hotel.

A couple of years ago on my daughter's fourth birthday, one of my girlfriends presented her with a card entitling her to tea with the "girls", as part of her initiation into big girl status. Naturally, my daughter loved the whole idea of sipping sweet milky tea from grown up china cups and munching on delectable pastries and tea biscuits (gotta love that clotted cream).

Lately, my girlfriends and I haven't been able to get it together and have our annual birthday tea. Not wanting such a lovely tradition to die, I decided to revive it with my daughter.

I promised her last week that we would go for tea this weekend. In honour of the event, she made us tea crowns. They were lovely colourful creations with the words "Tea Queen" emblazoned across the front, and our names at the back. She'd also made me these fabulous dangly earrings, one purple and the other apple green (she didn't have enough beads of each colour to make a pair), which I'd promised her I would wear only on special occasions. I figured the initation of a mother-daughter tea tradition counted as such.

We had a blast-and-a-half. As soon as we were seated, we placed our tea crowns solemnly upon our heads and proceeded to order the afternoon full tea. We drew a few envious looks from those seated nearby. My daughter got a big kick out of the server's constant references to her as "the beautiful Tea Queen". I was complimented many times on my gorgeous earrings, which caused my daughter to beam and glow.

And for the first time ever ... the Lobby Bar, which never validates parking, did so gladly and willingly. I'm sure this wouldn't happen for any normal plebians, but since we were Tea Queens after all, they were more than happy to oblige.

And so a new tradition is born ...