Today Wonder Boy turned 12 years old.
Twelve!
There is a large part of me that would like to focus on the nostalgic side of this birthday, wondering where my baby has gone. But the truth is, this was such a
FUN birthday, that even nostalgia gets put aside for this sappy mom.
The day actually started several days, weeks in advance. Or rather, the planning and prep work for the big day started well in advance.
You see, Wonder Boy and Wonder Dad have a bit of a
friendly competition where birthdays are concerned. They each try to top one another in terms of creating "memorable moments." And this must be a dominant gene because they are both quite fantastic at this particular skill!
Past birthdays have seen pranks, poems, birthday zombies, special meals, and even underwear scavenger hunts! Birthdays in this house are
NOT to be missed!
For the first big event of the day, Wonder Dad and I spent several nights blowing up balloons in the secret halls of our bedroom closet. We blew up over 100 good sized (12") balloons that we then used to fill the alcove outside of Wonder Boy's bedroom! We managed to stack them about 6' high! So when we called the Boy to breakfast this morning, he opened his bedroom door, and the balloons came flooding in!
It was
quite a sight to behold!
But that was not the end of the birthday hijinks! Oh, no! We went right into Prank #2.
A few weeks before this auspicious day, Wonder Dad noticed that there was
still one yet unopened present from Christmas. I am not sure if Wonder Boy is intimidated by it or what, but Wonder Dad thought
(& I agreed) that it would serve the Boy right to wrap it up again and give it back to him. And who knows, maybe that little jab would be enough to get him to tear off the shrink wrap and give it a try finally.
So ... after splashing through the deluge of balloons, Wonder Boy was ready to get down to the business of opening presents. He grabbed the box waiting for him on the fireplace hearth and went to town ripping the wrapping right off.
And then he stopped.
He stared at the box a bit.
And like a good little minion, turned to us and said "
Whaaaaa?"
"But I already have this one!", he continued.
He looked to Wonder Dad for explanation, clearly confused. At which point, Wonder Dad launched into a
VERY convincing pitch regarding the newness of said gift.
For those that don't know ... Wonder Boy is not what you would call "
a morning person." And as such, is not the most clear headed first thing in the morning, even on his birthday.
So ... just as he was beginning to question himself, Wonder Dad spilled the beans and brought out the real gifts (
much to the relief of our dear Wonder Boy).
Surprisingly, Wonder Boy took it better than I would have thought, laughed along with us and didn't hold a grudge for the little pranks. In fact, as the day wore on, it seems his favorite thing to do was to tell others the torture we had put him through that morning, but he did so with a big grin on his face,
so no hard feelings!
This really is a good picture of how the day shaped up in general - just fun and laughs and lots of good times for us all.
After opening gifts, we settled down for breakfast. Then we got to enjoy a
FANTASTIC soccer game where the Boy and his team came away with a 6 to 2 victory (
Wonder Boy had an assist)! After that it was home for a sinful lunch of bacon shell tacos (
for the Boy anyway). Then a bit of time to start playing with new toys. And then we capped off the day at a special dinner, where we were joined by Wonder Boy's two best buds.
The boys laughed,
one of them danced, and we all ate to our hearts' content.
As we drove home, a much anticipated cool front blew in, and we enjoyed a cool walk with our Wonder Pup as the perfect end to an
INCREDIBLE birthday!
Wonder Boy should turn 12 every day if this is the way things are going to go!
