Poor Jonathan....on what should be such a happy day for him, is not so for my sensitive young man. Jonny is turning 11 today, and is sad. School is going well, he has lots of friends, he even has today off of school due to parent-teacher conferences, he just got the part of "Jesus" in the new play at church, he is excelling with his new hobby-saxophone, and everything is going well....but he is sad. Why? Because it is his birthday today.....and that means he is growing up. Jonny doesn't want to grow up. 
Jonny has been such a kind, responsible, and enjoyable boy since babyhood. He has always been so bright and mature, easily fitting in with the older boys and seeming two years older than his actual age. I think that is finally catching up to him, and he finds himself now growing chronilogically older while grasping for years skipped past in childhood. He finds himself on the same train we all are on that cruises us through our 30's and 40's with lightening speed. He's growing up, and growing up fast. He wants to get off this train, but has already come to the mature understanding that the doors are shut and locked.....tight.
We tried to make the best of the day for him. Michael was given the day off of homeschooling to spend the morning playing video games with Jonny without the younger ones around. We then met Grandma and Grandpa for lunch at Jonny's favorite restaurant, Biaggi's.
We all ate WAY too much.....but it is so hard not to when the food is so very good! Jonny got to open his presents from his grandparents, and take home a balloon....one thing you can always count on is a balloon from Grandma C on your birthday. I don't care how old you are, that one balloon will make you smile and feel special all day. I know that is what happened to Jonny when they walked through the restaurant's doors.
We arrived home with 45 minutes to spare before Jonny's friends arrived for his sleepover party. Jonny's list was limited to good friends only, which brought it down to a more manageable 9 kids this year. Thinking this would be no big deal as his friends were all older this year, I was not too worried about being alone until 10:30pm when Bob was due to arrive home. Boy, was I wrong. Jonny has such a likeable personality that he draws friends from all personality types. You put all of them in close quarters, and something very ugly happens. Like mixing the wrong chemicals together....each on its own is perfectly harmless, but mix them together and watch out for lethal explosions!
After two hours of bickering, tears, stern talking to's, team pow-wows, and some basic lessons on behaving civilly, things were finally under control. (I was going to take the red-eye out of this picture, but then thought it was more appropriate to leave it in)
We had some pizza, calmed some nerves, and the boys spent the rest of the evening making up games in the yard and running hard for the next 3 hours. With the exception of a few quieter kids who remained indoors playing plasma cars and bingo with the girls and I, I did not see much of those hooligans the rest of the night. Another plug for plasma cars if you do not have any yet.....GET SOME!!!
Not only have they been a hit with my kids still almost one year later, but they are the hit of every single kid who walks into this house. There was not a single moment during the party that those cars were free....the boys even devised a plasma car tourney throughout the afternoon. One of our best purchases ever....and even little Thomas is starting to feel the joy.
Bob ended up abandoning me and did not come home until around 1:30AM. I fell asleep on the couch with my baby before midnight to the sound of a happy group of kids upstairs. Apparently they all fell asleep before 1am on their own...all that fresh fall air I suppose. Good thing too, because everyone awoke in good spirits the next morning, had some doughnuts, and played nicely together for a few hours while waiting for parents to arrive (one actually forgot about her kid until I called more than 2-1/2 hours after pick up time!). Jonny left his tears to the day before, and seemed more relaxed to start a great eleventh year.
Jonny has been such a kind, responsible, and enjoyable boy since babyhood. He has always been so bright and mature, easily fitting in with the older boys and seeming two years older than his actual age. I think that is finally catching up to him, and he finds himself now growing chronilogically older while grasping for years skipped past in childhood. He finds himself on the same train we all are on that cruises us through our 30's and 40's with lightening speed. He's growing up, and growing up fast. He wants to get off this train, but has already come to the mature understanding that the doors are shut and locked.....tight.We tried to make the best of the day for him. Michael was given the day off of homeschooling to spend the morning playing video games with Jonny without the younger ones around. We then met Grandma and Grandpa for lunch at Jonny's favorite restaurant, Biaggi's.
We all ate WAY too much.....but it is so hard not to when the food is so very good! Jonny got to open his presents from his grandparents, and take home a balloon....one thing you can always count on is a balloon from Grandma C on your birthday. I don't care how old you are, that one balloon will make you smile and feel special all day. I know that is what happened to Jonny when they walked through the restaurant's doors.We arrived home with 45 minutes to spare before Jonny's friends arrived for his sleepover party. Jonny's list was limited to good friends only, which brought it down to a more manageable 9 kids this year. Thinking this would be no big deal as his friends were all older this year, I was not too worried about being alone until 10:30pm when Bob was due to arrive home. Boy, was I wrong. Jonny has such a likeable personality that he draws friends from all personality types. You put all of them in close quarters, and something very ugly happens. Like mixing the wrong chemicals together....each on its own is perfectly harmless, but mix them together and watch out for lethal explosions!
After two hours of bickering, tears, stern talking to's, team pow-wows, and some basic lessons on behaving civilly, things were finally under control. (I was going to take the red-eye out of this picture, but then thought it was more appropriate to leave it in)
We had some pizza, calmed some nerves, and the boys spent the rest of the evening making up games in the yard and running hard for the next 3 hours. With the exception of a few quieter kids who remained indoors playing plasma cars and bingo with the girls and I, I did not see much of those hooligans the rest of the night. Another plug for plasma cars if you do not have any yet.....GET SOME!!! Not only have they been a hit with my kids still almost one year later, but they are the hit of every single kid who walks into this house. There was not a single moment during the party that those cars were free....the boys even devised a plasma car tourney throughout the afternoon. One of our best purchases ever....and even little Thomas is starting to feel the joy. Bob ended up abandoning me and did not come home until around 1:30AM. I fell asleep on the couch with my baby before midnight to the sound of a happy group of kids upstairs. Apparently they all fell asleep before 1am on their own...all that fresh fall air I suppose. Good thing too, because everyone awoke in good spirits the next morning, had some doughnuts, and played nicely together for a few hours while waiting for parents to arrive (one actually forgot about her kid until I called more than 2-1/2 hours after pick up time!). Jonny left his tears to the day before, and seemed more relaxed to start a great eleventh year.
No comments:
Post a Comment