MY BOGGY BLOG: find your way through the murk

13 on the 21st

I knew it was coming of course, have joked about it even, what would happen on this day. I woke up and even forgot about it for a few hours as the kids slept in, until I saw the actual date online: November 21. It's my youngest DS's birthday and he's 13... so I now have three teenagers in the house (ack!) and my BABY is a teenager! It brings tears to my eyes!

Of course, like any mom or dad, I can kaleidescope back in an instant to the little baby bundle placed in my arms moments after his birth in 1994. He was quite upset about the whole ordeal and had angry little cries which calmed down after being soothed and cooed to by his dad and me. I can fast forward to him being a little 3 year old sitting in the back seat precociously singing the words to "Closing Time" (a favorite Semisonic song of mine) along with the radio. Or him at 7 at his first piano recital, or all the hugs and cheek-kisses he is still giving me when he comes home from school... which I know may suddenly end someday soon as he gets older.

We are just on to another phase. I'm done with having little kids, or even medium-sized kids. All my kids are taller than me now! (And I'm glad of it, since I"m only 5'3.) This morning, my daughter is babysitting the neighbor girl over at our house for an hour while her parents get ready to go out of town for Thanksgiving. DD has babysat over their house with all their toys, but was unsure of what to do with the almost 3 year old at our house. "Oh, you can look around the house for stuffed animals or the wooden blocks. You can put on music and dance, get out the kid books from upstairs and read, get crayons and paper and draw..." I told her. After all those years of being mom to little kids, I have a lot of ideas, and it felt like I was just opening a lid on a box of my past. We had a lot of fun doing things together when they were little, and of course I was going crazy from the insanity that is Life with Little Kids too.

And now we have fun with big kids (and there's insanity in this part too, I don't think I need to elaborate). I do love how smart and funny they are, and the conversations we can have about almost anything. And it's SO NICE to not have to get a babysitter whenever DH and I want to go out! That is a wonderful freedom.

And so, Happy Birthday, younger DS! Please allow me to have my sentimental moments,and to beam with pride over how far you and I have come. Now it's time to wrap some presents!