Super sweet sixth…
This past weekend we celebrated my son’s “Super Sweet 6th”… and I honestly can’t believe he is six years old! I know everyone always says how fast time flies, especially with kids, but it truly does. And now that we live in a world where we are all so inclined to take pictures and videos of everything, it makes it that much easier to see just how much our kids change year over year.
Almost one year ago to the day the world was shutting down, and the Black Mirror episode that was 2020 kicked off… (egghhh). This was also when we decided to cancel our son’s original 5th birthday plans and opt for something smaller at home as opposed to the huge kid-centered funhouse (read - Petri dish) we originally booked. We did this a few days in advance of his party because 1) we didn’t know what the hell was going on, and 2) we felt like it was the responsible thing to do. Even still, it wasn’t fun sharing the news with my son. Especially considering how hyped he had been about it in the weeks (errr months) leading up to it. Despite how disappointed I was (for him), he actually took everything like a trooper - even saying at one point that he didn’t need a party because he already had everything he needed (I’m not sure if that was some reverse psychology but it’s forever emblazoned in my mind…lol). All jokes aside, reflecting back to that time fills me with so many emotions…
1) It is truly amazing how your entire perspective can change when you view things through the eyes of a child. Although this birthday was celebrated without a lot of the people and “things” my son is used to, it was one he seemed to appreciate that much more because even he seems to realize now how important it is not to take things for granted (although he never says anything to that effect… his actions make me feel he gets it…lol).
2) This year has been rough. For everyone. I have been on the struggle bus often over the past year and I know firsthand what it takes to get off. In other words, I’m hyping myself up a lot, or tapping into my community, or whatever I need to do in the moment. To think that a child is also tapping into… something… to stay as focused as he has over the past year is mind-boggling. Of course it could just be that he doesn’t want to get in “trouble”… but I think it’s so much more than that. He has nearly completed an entire year of school virtually… and he is in kindergarten. That in and of itself is worth celebrating, but he has excelled which is so far beyond what I could have ever expected. To be honest, things were feeling real gap-yearish in my head… but I feel so grateful it didn’t turn out that way.
3) What was supposed to be two weeks to “slow the spread” has been a year and counting. In March 2020 none of us - including my son - really knew what was in store. On Friday, March 13th (2020) we brought cupcakes to his daycare for his birthday and packed up his cubby like we did every Friday. But we had no idea that he wouldn’t be returning. And we couldn’t prepare him for that. No goodbye’s to the friends he had grown alongside for nearly five years of his life, or the teachers who had - collectively - spent more time with him than I had. It sucked.. that we couldn’t prepare him for one of the most significant moments of his life like we had tried to do every time before.
And for these reasons, We absolutely wanted to make him feel special for his birthday this year. So we decided on a few special birthday things over the course of the weekend.
My son’s current obsession is super cars so I got into a bit of a “Super Sweet Sixth” theme.
First, we rented a convertible sports car to chaffeaur him around in (and he seriously felt like he was the man).
Then, we visited a Lamborghini dealership so he could get all up close and personal with his dream car(s). We blindfolded him on the way there because I’m extra, but the reveal was worth it. Something completely free and open to the public at any time made his entire day (week, month, year???).
The grand finale was a birthday parade which had me in tears… no really (details on how we added a little creative twist to this coming soon)
Add to that his favorite food, treats, and a cake and the boy was on Cloud 9 all weekend long. I truly think this will be one of his most memorable birthdays because it was all about him… nothing more, nothing less. And at the end of the day, it’s a good reminder that that is what birthday’s should always be. :)