Happy Birthday, verse # 11, A Birthday Surprise

A Birthday Surprise…

(enter child’s 1st name)_ (last name) awoke from his sleep,
(name) sat up in bed and he began to think,
“What day is this,” and his eyes looked at his room,
knowing his birthday was coming soon.
“What if I clean it and make the room nice,
put away toys and let in the light,
sweep up the floor and straighten the bed,
hang my clothes in the closet,” he said.
“Then, I wonder if I might find
a bigger gift as my birthday surprise.”

“Birthdays are great, there’s so much to do,
with presents and cake and candles, balloons,
there’s games to be played and friends get to come,
there’s no doubt at all, birthdays are fun!”
So, with that thought in mind, ________ got out of bed,
and went straight to work on the list he had made in his head
of things that needed to be cleaned in the room,
knowing his birthday was coming soon.
And, as he cleaned, he dreamed with delight,
wondering what his birthday surprise would be like.

______ crossed his fingers and then made a wish
of what he would want for his birthday gift,
a train, a truck, a robot that walks,
a game, a ball, a car that can talk,
a cowboy hat, a horse that can sing,
why, he might like just about anything
to come in a box as a birthday surprise,
just something fun that will make him smile,
and he wondered what clue he thought he might find
of what his parents had planned for his birthday surprise.

When ______ had finished cleaning his room,
he took out the trash and put back the broom,
excited and wondering what his birthday might hold,
_____ looked high and then ______ looked low,
under beds and in closets and then behind doors,
in old boxes in the garage and under rugs on the floor.
But _______ had not seen signs of a birthday gift or even a card,
no paper, no ribbons, and he had looked very hard.
Then he began to worry, then he began to fear,
what if they had forgotten his birthday this year?

So, ______ sat and he thought very hard
about how to remind them without getting caught.
He did not want to miss out on a birthday surprise,
but, as he cleaned, not one clue did he find.
“Perhaps it would help,” he said with a yawn,
“if I picked my bike up out of the lawn
and moved the wagon out of the drive,
would that help them remember my birthday surprise?”
So, he moved the wagon and then he moved the bike,
but still no clue, no gift did he find.

“I know, I know, I know what I’ll do,
I’ll clean out the garage, yes I’ll clean that up too!”
So, ______ went straight to work all at once,
moving boxes and bikes and tools and such,
making everything clean and tidy and neat,
sweeping and cleaning everything within his reach.
________ cleaned floors and walls and the cabinets, too,
knowing his birthday was coming soon.
Yet, with all of his cleaning and searching he still did not find
a single clue to his birthday surprise.

When the night finally came, ______ fell fast asleep,
of gifts and toys and presents, he dreamed,
of race cars and cakes and friends and balloons,
of games and fun and candles, too,
and he dreamed of what clue or card he might find,
and what his parents might have chosen for his birthday surprise.
And when the morning came, ____ awoke from his sleep,
and he sat up in bed and he began to think,
“What day is this,” he said in his room,
knowing his birthday was coming soon.


_______ got up and he got dressed to go,
though where he was going, he really did not know,
so he went down the hall to the kitchen and he saw his mom there,
standing at the sink, peeling some pears.
“Can I help,” he asked his mom,
“No,” she said, “you go outside and have fun
and play for a while until it is time to leave
because we’re going to Grandmother’s house today, you see.
And, thank you for doing such a fine job on your room,
picking up toys and using the broom.”

And, with a grin on his face, ______ went out to play,
forgetting for a moment that it might be his birthday,
and remembering what his mother had said with a smile
about cleaning his room and doing the job fine.
“Perhaps, she remembers,” he then thought to himself,
“without needing reminding, maybe she didn’t forget
about what day is coming and my birthday surprise,
but then why not one clue did I find?”
So, _____ continued to play and have fun,
lining up cars on the walk, one by one.

“It’s time to go, let’s get in the car,”
his mother had called to him from the yard,
“We’re going to Grandmother’s house today,
and, no matter what, we must not be late.”
So, off in the car they drove down the road,
and as they went, the story he told
about the cleaning he had done just yesterday
waiting to see if his mother would mention his birthday.
But, she said not a word and he let out a sigh,
what would ever become of his birthday surprise?


Once reaching Grandma’s, ____ went inside,
and what did he see but his birthday surprise.
There on the table were ice cream and cake
with candles and cookies his Grandma had made.
There were balloons in the corner and gifts on the floor,
and all of his friends were standing beside the door
cheering, “Happy Birthday,” and _____’s eyes opened wide,
my, oh, my, what a birthday surprise.

“Surely you didn’t think we’d forget,
to say, ‘Happy Birthday’ or to get you a gift,”
his mother had asked him with a big smile
and a hug as _____ looked at his birthday surprise.
“No wonder,” he thought to himself in his mind,
“no clue did I find at home to my birthday surprise.
It had been at Grandmother’s house all the time,
the games, the cake, the candles to light.”

After the party, the cake, and the fun,
after the surprises were over and done,
______ went home and went straight to bed,
dreaming of all his birthday had been,
and wondering what next year he would find
waiting for him as his birthday surprise.