Lucky 7

Yesterday was Jack's seventh birthday.  In many ways, it was a typical day in our crazy life.  Jack had a soccer game bright and early at 8:30, which meant we had to be on the field to warm up at 8:00.  Right after the game, we passed out cupcakes and the team sang "Happy Birthday" to Jack.  From there, Tom brought Jack and Violet to Home Depot for their monthly kids workshop.  This month, they got to build a model boat.  As soon as they finished that, they came home and I whisked Jack to a school fair because he wanted to perform in a lion dance. 

There were a lot of kids from Jack's school at this fair, but most of them were there to sing and dance to Chinese songs.  Jack was there solely for the lion dance.  There were other parents there who kept asking him, "Don't you want to go up and sing?"  He said, "No thanks."  They told him, "You don't really have to sing.  You can just stand in the back and pretend."  Once again, he politely declined.  I could tell that the other parents were expecting me to try to persuade him to go up.  I told them that I promised him I would never make him sing and dance unless it was a very special occasion.  Jack is interested in and willing to do so many different things, but singing and dancing in public simply does not appeal to him.  It doesn't make sense for me to push him toward something that he doesn't like.  It would be one thing if he was just a blob who refused to do anything, but we were actually there at his behest because he wanted to do the lion dance.

Needless to say, the lion dance was the highlight of the event.

After the school fair was over, we reconvened at our house to get ready for the afternoon's events.  In lieu of a big party this year, I got Jack to agree to a playdate at the local mini golf place with his two best friends.  I told him I would put the money we saved on the party toward a bigger present for him.  It was perfect.  The kids got to play mini-golf, ride some rides, and play in the arcade.  Afterward, we took them all out to dinner at Jack's favorite restaurant, Souplantation.  We ended the night with a prolonged playdate at our house.  Jack didn't get to bed until after 9:00, but thankfully we "fell back" last night and gained an extra hour.

Is there any point anymore in bemoaning or wondering at how quickly time is going?  In the blink of an eye, seven years went by.  Seven - that isn't even close to being a baby any more, and yet wasn't he just born? We've all heard that trope that it takes seven years for all the cells in a person's body to completely regenerate, meaning that, on a cellular level, you are a completely different person than you were seven years ago.  I don't know if that's true for Jack, but it's definitely true for me.  Becoming a parent - being Jack's parent - has changed me in ways that I could never have foreseen.

It's an absolute privilege, blessing, and humbling honor to be responsible for this little soul, to help him to grow into the person he is meant to be.  At seven, it feels like we are on the cusp of something.  I can still the baby in his face, but I also see the big boy he is too quickly becoming.  He still calls me "mommy," he still wears his Pooh-jamas to sleep on a bed that is covered with Pooh sheets, he will still cry when he is hurt or frustrated (although really not that often), he still has dimples on his knuckles.

But he is getting taller and leaner.  I'm noticing a layer of fuzz growing on his legs.  He has lost two teeth, and a few more are starting to wiggle.  He is starting to balk at having to sit in a five-point harness car seat when so many of his friends and classmates are in a backless booster.  I just finished the first "Origami Yoda" book, and I was surprised at some of the mature(ish) themes that were discussed in the book.  Jack didn't even bat an eye reading it.  I really feel I only have a couple more years left of his little boyhood.

Happy birthday, Jack!  You are seven, but your mama is the lucky one.