Quince

Since most people that I have told about this can't pronounce it, I am simply labeling this post Quince. It is pronounced Keen-Say. However, the big word, Quinceanera is pronounced Keen Say Ahn Yair Uh. Well, more or less that way.

Anyway.... a quince is the birthday party that is thrown for a latina girl that is turing 15. It is the magical age where she changes from girl to woman. These parties are enormous in Latin America and families can spend tens of thousands of dollars on them. They are quite comparable to weddings only without a groom.

Some of the traditions of a quince are:

*The girl of honor, her attendants and their escorts all participate in a waltz.

*The girl wears an amazingly fancy dress as do her attendants

*The girl has a dance with her dad. Then, any family members that choose to follow may.

*At the beginning, she will wear flats and at some point she will change to high heels symbolizing her change to womanhood.

*The girl gives away a doll to her youngest female relative.


The quince usually has a huge cake that resembles a wedding cake. There is a huge dinner followed by an evening of dancing. You have to give it up to the Latin culture. They certainly know how to throw a party. They are a lot of fun to attend.


Now, everyone has been asking me about whether or not I am going to throw one for Kyra when she turns 15. In Harvey's family, it is just assumed that she will have a huge quince when she turns 15. This is my response. I don't know. I am not too fond of the idea of doing something amazingly huge for my daughter and doing nothing for my sons (they don't do anything for boys in the culture.) However, with a lot of things in my life, I can simply say, that I will think more about it when she gets closer to that age. I still have 8 years!!!!