A Good Birthday

I think Matthew had a good birthday yesterday.  I wish I could post pictures, but I've been having trouble for two months downloading pictures from my phone and camera onto my computer...I'm trying to figure out what to do about it without having to purchase a new computer!

The day began with breakfast of Matthew's choice:  French toast accompanied by a bowl full of raspberries...and the raspberries were sprinkled with palm sugar and doused with a liberal splash of cream.

In the afternoon, Matthew took his three besties (his brother and two friends) to Sky Zone, where the boys trampolined to their hearts' content for ninety minutes and nibbled on snacks I'd brought along:  Matthew's favourite chips; homemade cinnamon buns; and oranges.  Thereafter, I took the four boys to a local dessert place and we sang happy birthday to Matthew while eating the foods of our choice.

The conversation of three ten-year-old and one eight-year-old boy is not always that interesting, I must say.  I loved listening to them, of course, but wow, yeah, four boys....  There's a lot of repetition of words such as awesome, a lot of conversation about technology and the accompanying gadgets, and a lot of talking about food.  Here's just a sample of little snippets:

trampolining is awesome - this is awesome - what kinds of chips do you like the best - are you guys rainbow looming - what do you like better, ipads or ipods - making dragons and pendants with rubber bands - ahh, cinnamon buns - trampolining is awesome - have you seen this website - what do you guys think about bible study - eating is awesome - I love trampolining - are you allowed to text - I made a movie with my favourite teddy - let's write a graphic novel with superheroes - love cinnamon buns - what's your favourite car - I can't stop thinking about finger looming - wow, goodie bags - let's go jump some more - how much money do you have - cake before dinner, awesome - who's going to draw the superhero - I love ipads - this food is awesome - do you think it's ok for a guy to wear pink - how many books are there in the bible - wanna finger loom after dessert - can we do clan dinners again - who's watched star wars - french fries rock - who was the oldest man in bible days - I don't want this party ever to end - wow, more food, awesome - how can we create games online - can we drive home slowly so we can talk more - I want to sit in the middle seat - no I want to sit in the middle seat - ipads are awesome - ahh, hamburger, come to me - who's going to write the script of our graphic novel - I'm full - it's so great to hang out and just talk - when are we getting together again - Skype, google chat - see you tomorrow at gym & swim - etc etc. 

Humour aside, these kids were, ahem, awesome!  They got along great for all 5+ hours that they were together, and still wanted more of each other by the time I got them home.  I think it was a resounding success and, from Matthew's perspective, it was a great way to spend his birthday.

Matthew didn't want to turn ten.  He figures that he has a great life and that getting older might change things for him.  He's anxious that as he gets older he might not love crafting and creating things as much as he does now; he's worried that life will get a little harder the older he gets; and he doesn't want to creep closer to adulthood, because he's happy living at home and not having a job to go to!

I can understand all of those things; I remember feeling similar things myself, though I was a little older when I began to feel them.  And he's right, I suppose.  Life, and our interests, do change as we get older.  I'm not trying to convince him otherwise; in fact, I think these thoughts and feelings, and the passage of time, are things that he needs to grieve.  It's a very natural futility point and he may grieve this for some time before being able to adapt to a new perspective.

I'm a little sad, too, frankly, now that he's in the double digit category.  I think it's hard because he's my first...everything is a learning curve with one's first and everything seems unique.  If I could stand time still for a while, I think I would.  I grieve the day he leaves the nest and ventures out on his own, even as I do my best to prepare him for this eventuality.  I'm so glad I have a few more years with him before this happens.

But for now he's still this young boy who loves the Star Wars lego and Nerf gun he got from us for his birthday, and he's eager to get going on one of the new books we bought him (we gave him the first Inkheart book and the first Boy Sherlock book, called Eye of the Crow).

To quote Matthew as he crawled into bed, his birthday was "awesome!"