Tis the season for transitions and change! Back to school AND Jack's birthday all in one week. It's always a lot at once but I have to say- these "quaran-birthdays" do rather take the pressure off. No big party to plan, because even if we wanted to, we're not allowed. And honestly a small celebration is right up our boy's alley. Our TEENAGER, should I say. It's pretty wild to think that I've been doing this mom thing for 13 years. I'll never forget leaving the hospital with our squishy little babe in the carseat, hardly believing that we were being entrusted with his care. Watching him sleep and tracking his inputs and outputs and worrying all the time-- are we doing this right? Is he growing and doing well? Those long nights that felt like they would last forever, walking and rocking and singing and nursing. And then--we had a baby boy who liked to sit and observe the world, little twinkle eyes taking it all in. And then a toddler boy brandishing a stick and looking for diggers and "minos". And then a preschooler with his favorite monster truck and sense of adventure. And then a little boy learning to play soccer, to ride a bike, to swim, to read...
And now we are here. With a tall young man in our house, all broad shoulders and long arms and sardonic humor. Jack at 13 is funny and loving and increasingly helpful to have around- but also increasingly wanting to spend time in his room and not with the family. He's starting to care about his looks and spends a lot of time tossing and fingering his luscious quarantine-long locks. His voice is deepening and sometimes cracking and he has a few wisps of facial hair. He would spend every waking moment on his Xbox with his friends if he could, shrieking and laughing his way through virtual worlds. His favorites are Fortnite, Forza and Rocket League and not many other activities can hold a candle to those games for him. Qarantine life has certainly not helped him to diversify, as video gaming has been an "allowable" constant while other activities-- soccer, swim team, school-- were taken away. I am hoping he can get his other activities back sometime, because I do love to watch him shine on the soccer field, in the pool, on the stage in band. But in the meantime he is coping with becoming a young adult in the midst of a pandemic and that is enough for anyone. He can have his hours of gaming every day if it helps him. I am so proud of my bright, kind, handsome, capable young man.
To celebrate the boy, we started with Special Day breakfast, of course. Then when I got home from work, it was present time. We did a scavenger hunt, of course. (Ivy was terribly excited to help design and carry it out, after enjoying hers so much on her birthday.) Jack had to ride his bike to the pool to find one of his clues. The toughest one ended up being in the engine of the van. Then up to his own bedroom where Ivy had oh-so-carefully arranged his gifts...
He's been wanting a giant squishimal of his own for a while. Ivy was thrilled to find one on sale and give it to him.
We went WAYYYY overboard on gifts for the boy, because, well, its been all sorts of 2020 around here and its been tough on our big/little guy and he deserves to have all his dreams come true on his birthday. He was quite literally speechless when he opened the Elite Controller, and even a little teary by the time he opened the new Xbox. Worth every penny.
(would he brush his hair before the presents and pictures? no he would not)
A happy teen.
After about a month of encouragement from us, the boy finally decided he would invite a few friends over for a hangout in the backyard. Final arrangements were made Thursday. And then the time was changed Friday due to weather. Control-freak-about-birthdays mama over here had to really take a deep breath and let things unfold. Turns out it was great and by far the easiest birthday party I have ever hosted. We took out an assortment of hot chip snack-packs, a case of Sprite, and some balloons, and then left them on ther own. Jack's friends (3 of whom I met for the first time that night) were adorable, nice kids and completely unfazed by the wind and rain that came up moments after they arrived. The boys hung out for about 2 hours, doing 8th grade boy things, which mainly involved a lot of odd noises and wreaking destruction. They played with all the sharp and dangerous items we have: bows and arrows, darts, the fire pit, the slack line, the tree house, chucking full cans of sprite down the tube from the tree house. By the end they had added wrestling in the rain (so much for social distancing), balloon volleyball in the rain, and blowing up and popping every balloon we had. They also initiated singing happy birthday to Jack ont he porch, which was adorable and which I tried but failed to video tape. Photos of the event are sub par because we didn't want to interfere with their teen fun by getting in there for close ups...
Cookie-cake by Jack's request. Seriously, easiest party hosting every.
Soaking wet, happy boy.
We had taco night and more singing and gifts from Gram to round out the day. Becca and Vovo joined us via Zoom and I don't know why we haven't had long-distance guests for parties before all this. It's a great idea.
The boy then promptly retired to his room and set up ALLL his new things, then reveled in his technology and new lighting.
Bonus material: Jack has decided to run cross country this year and we had our first mini-meet on Saturday. Just our teams (middle and high school) and shorter distances (middle school ran a mile) but all the parents still came out in force to cheer. I will admit without shame that I got teary-eyed when the kids rounded the curve into view the first time. I've so missed gathering with our community and cheering our young people on. It felt wonderful.
The boy ran his mile in 7:38, which I think is not too shabby for a kid who's been on the "quarantine atrophy" fitness plan for 5 months.
Looking forward to watching him grow and enjoy the challenge of this sport!
