I don’t remember whether or not I have shared this with you or not, but GaryTodd has been 8 years old since his birthday party in August.
Now, let me explain. On his real birthday last year, GaryTodd’s leg was in a cast and he really couldn’t play. We had a little celebration for him, but promised him a real party when he could actually walk again. Part of his family couldn’t bear waiting until he could walk again before celebrating his birthday, so we had a little bigger celebration so that family could celebrate with him.
In very late July, he was able to walk, so on August 1st we celebrated his birthday at Chuck E. Cheese. He decided, that he was 8 years old. He figured that since he had 3 parties, he had to be 8 yrs old. Of course, Todd and I encouraged such behavior, because after all, how much could it hurt?
Well, much to our surprise, this wasn’t something that he just played at home. He has insisted all year at school that he is 8. Please understand, he KNOWS his ‘real’ age is 5. He just doesn’t feel like being 5. And after having such a bad year last year, I didn’t feel as if he had to be 5. But his Kindergarten class had a problem with it.
As the year wore on, many of his classmates decided he really couldn’t be 8. This hurt GaryTodd’s feelings. He wasn’t lying to them, his mom and dad wanted him to be 8. He couldn’t figure out why they had a problem with him being 8.
This required a little bit of work on his parent’s part. First of all, we had to make a plan for GaryTodd. On his next birthday, we agreed he would be 7 on his actual birthday. Then when we had his birthday celebration on Saturday, he would actually turn 6. But we didn’t stop there.
In the mornings as we would wait for the teacher to come to collect her children, occasionally a little one would say to me, “Is GaryTodd really 8?”
“Well, of course he is! Don’t you turn another year older when you have a birthday party?”
This has confused every one of these little children. Ha-ha! They have no idea who they are up against!
As they are trying to figure out why this shouldn’t make sense, I move in for the kill… “My question to you is this, What age would YOU like to be?” They never say their real age. So for the next 10 minutes we all pretend to be the age we WANT to be.
So far, this has proven to work very well. No longer does anyone complain about GaryTodd being 8.
Nonetheless, tomorrow he is ready to be 6. I didn’t get a lot of pictures during his celebration, but I did get a picture of the cake that his oldest sister made for him…
Notice the 7 candles…
GaryTodd has a fantastic imagination that we are all interested in keeping in tact.
GaryTodd has given us all instructions on what he wanted to have for his birthday. Everyone has a different present to give to him (very smart) and of course, everyone wants to get him exactly what he wants. But this year we also decided it was time he had a new bike.
He has been riding it ever since he got it. He absolutely loves it! (Even though it wasn’t on his list…)
Here is a picture of him getting comfortable on his new bike as he is talking with the neighbor.
By the way, it is also worth mentioning that he doesn’t have any ordinary bike… His dad bought him THE COOLEST BIKE EVER!
It happens to be a motorcycle, racecar bike that is super fast! And he assures us that soon he will be doing special tricks with his feet on the handlebars!
Luckily we have had beautiful weather for bike riding.
I do apologize for not having any updates lately. We have had many things that I could brag about my wonderful children, but I haven’t been really sure how to address them.
We have the most compassionate children… and recently have been struck by a loss in the family. Although there are many beautiful things I could share about the caring and love I have witnessed, I didn’t really feel able to share what we have experienced.
I don’t mean to leave you on such a somber note, but I do appreciate that you have read this blog post to the end! Wow! I am very appreciative of you! Thank you, and Love to All!
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