Drive-by party sparks joy
A balloon-clad convoy of friends and family has helped a 5-year-old boy celebrate his birthday during lockdown.
Kasen Weston was supposed to celebrate his fifth birthday with friends and family this weekend, but as Covid-19 continues to run rampant across the country his mother Brook McLay-Duff was forced to cancel for the second year in a row. ‘‘He took it really well,’’ McLay-Duff said. ‘‘If I was that age I would have bawled my eyes out.’’
Last year they had planned to visit Auckland, but another lockdown in the city forced the family to stay home.
But this year McLay-Duff wasn’t going to let the day pass without making her son feel as special as she could.
Rounding up her friends and family, McLay-Duff asked them to decorate their cars and do a driveby yesterday, surprising Kasen with balloon-clad cars, gifts and a lolly scramble.
Alert level 4 rules state people cannot leave their bubbles, so the drivers made sure they kept their distance from the family and wore masks to prevent the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.
Grinning from ear to ear, Kasen jumped for joy as about a dozen cars tooted and played music. People drove past and threw gifts over the fence, before rushing back to their cars. ‘‘He was stoked to see them,’’ McLay-Duff said. ‘‘It’s such a good idea and keeps everyone safe.
‘‘With him being 5 and my firstborn, he’s just so awesome. I just wanted to show him how special he is.’’
Local police officers also stopped by to wish Kasen a happy birthday, she said.
Kasen’s great-grandmother Sandy Duff said she had just as much fun as he did, watching him celebrating his birthday and receiving presents. ‘‘I thought it was so good, but it was quite hard to drive off and not be able to give him a hug. That was quite sad, but we did the best we could.
‘‘It’s such a weird time. I can imagine if he was mine you would feel so bad to not be able to give them a birthday.’’
Duff said she had been caught out by alert level 4 and hadn’t bought any presents from stores prior to the announcement last week. She had scoured supermarkets for presents, but there was a limited selection.
Duff said she would write to supermarket owners, asking them to boost their supplies for other children who might miss out on birthdays in the latest lockdown.
‘‘Even though we’re in lockdown I think people should think of ways to make it special.’’