Boy on Birthday
This morning I was asleep. I woke to the presence of our child entering the bedroom. He was being very quiet.
Then a little finger touched me on the hair, as my back was to the edge of the bed. "Momma," came the quiet whisper, "can you wake up just ten minutes early? It's... 7, 1, 8, and I really, really want to open my presents."
I rolled over and peered at Jet from one half-closed eye. He looked back, "Oh... maybe I'll just wait ten more minutes..." He trotted back out of the room.
Next thing I know, I heard his footsteps as he comes in, and then a strange whirring sound. Then the room is filled with a flash and the click of a camera. Then the whir of a digital camera shutting back down again. Suddenly there's light in the room as Jet opened opens the slats on the shade.
He does all that very quietly. John's still snoring. I've got my eyes closed, trying to just relax. Right on the dot of 7:30, a little body climbs onto the bed and watches both of us, hopefully. It's a Temperpedic mattress so there's no vibration transmission from Jet, so John keeps snoring blissfully away.
Then, "Mom? Dad? It's my birthday and it is now 7:30. Would you please get up?"
We did.
On Friday we went to Jet's classroom to help him hand out his birthday treats of Zebra Cakes. Mrs. Hampton has a tradition that when a child turns 7, everyone else in the classroom has to come up with at least seven things that they like about the birthday child. It floored me. Totally.
The most common answers were, "He's great at math!" "He's cute!" "He's a really good friend." and "He's nice!" Then there were, "He always stops and helps anyone that gets hurt." and "He plays with people who don't have anyone else to play with." And one little girl said in just that voice that no one but a little girl could manage, "And he's absolutely adooooorable."
Jet was also wearing a bracelet that he'd won as a Principal's High-5. He'd been awarded, it turned out, the previous day on the playground for helping someone out. He hadn't mentioned it at all when he came home, but we went and found the form that they'd filled out for the award and made much of him. So he was very happy. He also picked Noodles for dinner last night and thought that today, after his party, he might want to just stay home and play instead of going out to dinner.
Smart boy.
The party was fun. Everyone had fun. No one was hurt too badly, and everyone ate a good lunch and got drinks and then cake and ice cream, and presents were opened without too much fighting over which present got opened when. Jet was very efficient at it. The bowling went well, everyone took their turns often enough for them not to get too bored and wander off too far, and scores weren't really counted... which is good as we didn't finish a single game. Hee.
It was fun. Both John and I lost our voices in that noisy environment, but we haven't needed it for the quiet afternoon since.
Now I have to make a bunch of Chinese New Years goodies to take to church tomorrow for the snack time. It should be interesting... but not TOO strange so that folks actually try things.
Then a little finger touched me on the hair, as my back was to the edge of the bed. "Momma," came the quiet whisper, "can you wake up just ten minutes early? It's... 7, 1, 8, and I really, really want to open my presents."
I rolled over and peered at Jet from one half-closed eye. He looked back, "Oh... maybe I'll just wait ten more minutes..." He trotted back out of the room.
Next thing I know, I heard his footsteps as he comes in, and then a strange whirring sound. Then the room is filled with a flash and the click of a camera. Then the whir of a digital camera shutting back down again. Suddenly there's light in the room as Jet opened opens the slats on the shade.
He does all that very quietly. John's still snoring. I've got my eyes closed, trying to just relax. Right on the dot of 7:30, a little body climbs onto the bed and watches both of us, hopefully. It's a Temperpedic mattress so there's no vibration transmission from Jet, so John keeps snoring blissfully away.
Then, "Mom? Dad? It's my birthday and it is now 7:30. Would you please get up?"
We did.
On Friday we went to Jet's classroom to help him hand out his birthday treats of Zebra Cakes. Mrs. Hampton has a tradition that when a child turns 7, everyone else in the classroom has to come up with at least seven things that they like about the birthday child. It floored me. Totally.
The most common answers were, "He's great at math!" "He's cute!" "He's a really good friend." and "He's nice!" Then there were, "He always stops and helps anyone that gets hurt." and "He plays with people who don't have anyone else to play with." And one little girl said in just that voice that no one but a little girl could manage, "And he's absolutely adooooorable."
Jet was also wearing a bracelet that he'd won as a Principal's High-5. He'd been awarded, it turned out, the previous day on the playground for helping someone out. He hadn't mentioned it at all when he came home, but we went and found the form that they'd filled out for the award and made much of him. So he was very happy. He also picked Noodles for dinner last night and thought that today, after his party, he might want to just stay home and play instead of going out to dinner.
Smart boy.
The party was fun. Everyone had fun. No one was hurt too badly, and everyone ate a good lunch and got drinks and then cake and ice cream, and presents were opened without too much fighting over which present got opened when. Jet was very efficient at it. The bowling went well, everyone took their turns often enough for them not to get too bored and wander off too far, and scores weren't really counted... which is good as we didn't finish a single game. Hee.
It was fun. Both John and I lost our voices in that noisy environment, but we haven't needed it for the quiet afternoon since.
Now I have to make a bunch of Chinese New Years goodies to take to church tomorrow for the snack time. It should be interesting... but not TOO strange so that folks actually try things.