Tea Party Story

Once upon a time there was a boy named Benjamin-George, but his best friends called him “BG”. He lived in the center of Boston on a slanted street that was lined with houses that were built a long, long time ago. His best friends were Nathan, Yeon Shim, Sally, Lily, Javier, Moshe, Maria-Elena, Hans, Misha, Taiga, Naomi, Hamir, Atepei, Mata, Danielle, Nicolai, François, Sularti,Tatiana, Pualani, Blixa, Hannah, Diego, Moe, Jack, Misaki, and Alexander.

Yep, he had a lot of best friends and they were from all over the world. He was very proud of that. But there were so many of them that whenever he asked his mom to schedule a play date, she always said, “Sure, but we have a small house so you can only invite over 2-3 friends at one time.
This was of course a little discouraging for BG because he had 27 best friends. How was he supposed to decide who to invite? How was he supposed to remember who came last time and who should come this time and who will come next time? This was very confusing. So he asked his mom, “Mom, is there any way I could have all of my friends over at the same time”? “Oh my” his mom replied, “where would we put 27 children who all love to bounce around like jumping beans”? “There’s got to be a way” BG grumbled.

“Well, if either one of us can come up with some grand idea, then perhaps it would be possible, until then you are going to have to choose 2 or 3 friends to come over and play.” BG hugged his mom’s legs tightly. “Well since it’s a long weekend, can I at least invite over 4 different friends on each day”? We’ll talk more about it later” his mom said as she winked at him. “Right now we have to go to the market, please put your shoes on.”

BG shuffled his way to the closet with a long face and a pouting lower lip. He scowled at his mom while he put on his shoes. His mom stared back at him sympathetically, “I’m sure you’ll have a fine long weekend, we’ll figure out something.”

They left the house, walked to the train station and caught the downtown train to Quincy Market. BG pouted for entire ride. Before they reached their station BG’s mom leaned over and gave him a big hug and a kiss on his forehead. He smiled for a second and then put on his pouting face again. They walked up the station stairs and crossed the street to the market. Mom stopped at a bench, picked BG up and sat him on it. She bent down and looked him straight in the eye and asked, “do you know why we are going to the market place today”? BG, who was still pretending to pout, shook his head and grumbled “Uh-uh!”

“Today is our mother and son lunch date” mom announced. BG finally smiled from ear to ear. “What are we going to eat, what are we going to eat, tell me, tell me”? BG demanded knowing. “You’ll see sweetie, and I have a little present for you too” said mom patiently. “Oh, goodie, goodie, thanks mom.” BG jumped off the bench and grabbed his mom’s hand affectionately. They walked through the halls of the markets together. As they strolled through the market they played a guessing game called “Name That Smell.” They giggled as they guessed the names of different aromas and delicious fragrances at the same time. “That’s chocolate.” “That’s Boston clam chowder.” “It’s candied peanuts and caramel popcorn.” They had so much fun together and they laughed and laughed and laughed.

They finally reached their lunch place . It smelled delicious and there was warm steam floating out over the counter. The steam was so thick and soupy looking that BG was sure he saw a flying dragon or a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream or a castle in the sky. Mom ordered their food and they sat down to eat. Mmm-mm, BG sighed as he took a deep breath and smelled his lunch. It was BG’s favorite - a plump juicy hot dog with sweet, spicy Boston bake beans smooshed all over the top. His mom also bought his favorite drink, a chocolate egg cream soda with extra whipped cream on top. Mom ordered the same lunch but instead of extra cream on the chocolate soda, she ordered extra beans on her hot dog. BG started munching on his lunch and then his mom handed him a flat package wrapped in paper.

“Wow, mom is it my birthday”? BG asked. His mom answered, “it’s just a little present to celebrate our lunch together.” BG opened it in a hurry. He opened the book to the first page. It was a picture history book of his hometown of Boston. The first picture was a drawing of the Boston Tea Party. Mom began explaining how the people who lived in Boston long time ago threw the tea in the harbor and that they were upset because the price of the tea was too expensive because of the taxes. Well, BG hardly waited for his mom to finish the story when BG jumped off his chair and ran to mom’s side of the table. “What’s the matter” she asked. “Is this story too boring for you”?

“Mom, I have a really, really, good idea. Will you please say yes, please mom”? BG pleaded. “Sweetheart, it’s really only fair for you to tell me the idea first before I say yes” replied mom. BG pleaded again, “okay, but I really want you to say yes. This is my idea - can I have a tea party at our house and invite all of my friends”? “Hmm, let me think about this for a minute, hmmm.” BG started jumping up and down waiting for his mom to give him a proper answer instead of just ‘hmmm.” Finally she answered, “you understand that this is going to have to be a very organized event”? “Yeah” BG answered. “And you realize that you will have to send out invitations and make all of the preparations yourself”? “Yes mom.” “And you only have 4 days to prepare”? “That’s a long time, right”? BG said sounding hopeful. “Well, it’s a short time to organize a party and you must remember that some friends already have other plans or they’re going away” mom insisted. “But I want to invite all of my friends anyway” said BG as he returned to his seat to finish his hot dog.
“All right, it’s a deal, you make the preparations, but I think we’ll have to call everyone instead of sending invitations, it’s just too short of a notice” mom said, finally agreeing to BG’s idea. “Can I make the phone calls” asked BG? “Of course, of course you can, let’s finish our lunch.” They finished eating and they spent the rest of the lunch time looking at BG’s new picture history book. As soon as BG arrived home, mom helped him make a list of his friends’ names and phone numbers. He put it on his night table beside his bed.

The next morning, BG woke up feeling very excited. He ate breakfast and began calling all his friends, “hi, Nathan, I’m having a tea party on Saturday at 2 p.m. Will you please come”? Mom could hear Nathan voice as he asked, “who else is coming”? BG replied, “I’m inviting all of our best friends - everybody, so please come over, okay”? “Oh, and please leave your toys at home, there will be a lot of other friends here and you can dress up if you like, and you can bring your favorite teddy bear or stuffed animal.” BG waited for an answer. “Okay” said Nathan, “I asked my mom, she said okay.” “Thanks Nathan, bye bye.” BG made a lot of calls and then got tired of the telephone. His mom noticed and then suggested, “Benjamin-George, you should start making some of your preparations, like placemats and little name place cards. Then you have to decide what kind of snack you want to have with tea. We have to collect some hats and gloves and dress up clothes for your friends to wear and we have to buy tea and cream. So how about if I finish making the phone calls and you get started”?

By the time Saturday morning rolled around, BG had all of his tea party preparations made. Out of his 27 friends, only about 11 could come over for tea, but everyone that BG spoke to said that they wanted to come. But BG was glad that he invited everybody. Yeon Shim and Diego and Hannah came over early to help set the table and put up some decorations. Mom organized a waiting area in the living room with the family photo albums to be looked at and dress-up clothes for everyone to put on. There were even some doll clothes in case anyone wanted to dress their teddy bear or baby doll.

At 5 minutes before 2 p.m. BG waited at the door for his guests. Everybody arrived nearly at the same time, so BG had to talk really fast when he greeted his friends at the door. “Hello, and welcome to my tea party Nicolai, hello and welcome to my tea party Taiga, hello and welcome to my tea party Naomi” until everybody was in.

Everyone talked and dressed up. The boys put on jackets and gentleman’s hats. Some of them put on cowboy hats. Some of the girls put on cowboy hats too and others put on wide-brimmed hats with fake flowers on them. Some friends put on pearl necklaces and jewelry or dressed up their teddy bears and a few just stayed dressed as they were.
BG then made an announcement. “Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for the tea party to begin, please take your seats at the setting where you see your name, thank you.” Everyone scrambled around looking for their names, of course everyone said they wanted to sit next to someone else and BG’s mom chimed in, “attention, attention everyone, please sit where you see your name and the next time we have a tea party, you will have a chance to sit next to another friend, we are all sitting close enough together. You are here to enjoy everyone’s company.”

After everyone was seated, BG and his mom came out with the tea and tea cakes. It was very exciting. Everyone drank tea, ate cake and cookies and minded their manners saying “please” and “thank you.” There were crumbs of cake and spots of tea all over the table and at different moments someone grabbed a sponge to clean up a spill and it was all done with fun and laughs. They listened to a story and talked about their dolls and teddy bears and the adventures they’ve had together with them. Some children even took turns holding one another’s doll or teddy bear.

When the party was nearly over BG’s friends gathered around the family photo albums and BG showed them photos of when he was a baby. BG’s mom had bought some small thank you cards and quietly encouraged BG’s friends to write their name on one of the cards and drop it in a small homemade mailbox. Then everyone gathered together for a group photo before leaving.

BG walked each of his friends outside to bid them farewell as their parents came to pick them up. BG’s friend Nathan had permission to stay and help BG clean up and spend the night for a sleep-over. Both of them washed dishes and wiped the table clean. BG swept the floor and Mom dried the dishes and handed them to Nathan to store them in the tea cup boxes.

Naturally the two of them were too full to eat dinner and even too exhausted to watch a movie. They got ready for bed early and when they were tucked in, mom handed BG the homemade mailbox. BG was fascinated to see all of the thank you cards from each and every one of his friends. Together BG and Nathan guessed the names of all their friends on the cards. The next morning they awoke for breakfast to the smell of pancakes cooking. They ran into the kitchen with hungry tummies ready to eat. BG giggled as he asked his mom if he and Nathan could have tea with their pancakes. Mom answered by asking if she could be invited to have breakfast tea with them. BG and Nathan looked at each other and nodded their heads and then looked at BG’s mom saying “But, of course you can.”

And that is the story of BG’s Boston tea party.

THE END