Sensational Sixteen

I'm feeling all nostalgic today. It's this little guy's sixteenth birthday. The time has flown by. From the beginning, he has been a joy. He is not a person who is easily panicked. He takes life in, and turns it over in his mind and sometimes that is where it stays; other times, he comes out with the most captivating observations.

Always good at drawing, he would substitute drawing in the air, if he didn't know the name of things. "Mom, where's the whift whift whift [sound of his finger drawing in the air]" and if I could figure out the shape, I would know where to help him find it. This year, he got a stellar 98.2% in art. This is one of his pieces.

He is the third child, and had to spend more time watching than being invited to play. And he couldn't get a word in edgewise, if he had wanted to,because the others in the family were so busy talking.

One day I was explaining the concept of a credit card to his brother. I used the example of a chocolate bar. "Now, if you wanted to buy a chocolate bar, and didn't have the money, and I owned the credit card company, I would lend you the money, but you would have to pay me back. And if you didn't, then you would have to pay me back for the chocolate bar, and more money for not paying me back in time." I guess all my little guy heard was chocolate bar, because not long after, he sidled up to me and whispered "Mom, you talka me a chocobar?"

He is the one who always had to have his clothes look a certain way. I've never seen a pair of child's cowboy boots worn out, until he was in our family. He wore them everywhere, on every occasion. When he was very small, his pants had to be rolled up four times in the cuff, and he liked to have a belt on [and it had to be cinched tight]. And he liked button up shirts, with the top button done up. When shopping for clothes, he checked for the number of pockets in the pants before he decided if he liked them.

He has been involved in a wide variety of pastimes, and has had many opportunities to try his hand (and legs) at new and interesting experiences.

Building forts, Soccer, Fencing, Art, Guitar, Ukulele, Rugby, Inventor, Construction, and Demolition, and most of all Family Video nights, where he is the researcher to find a movie for us to watch.

Food is the way to this guy's heart [especially pancakes]. One day he said "Mom what are you making for lunch?" I said I didn't know. He replied "Can you make something that has syrup on it?" This morning, I made something with syrup on it for a birthday treat before he went to school.

School is not his favorite. Still, he works away at it. We have had many discussions about work habits, and how the main thing about school is to learn good work habits. But come holiday time, he is all over that. The last two summers he has spent at camp and says its the place where he feels most at home.

Of all my kids, he has the most optimistic outlook. When he was four, he painted rocks and decided he would sell them. He asked how much he should charge. "20$?" I suggested that a quarter might be more in line with the value of the product. So he painstakingly made his stickers and put them on the rocks, and ventured out to make a roadside stand to sell them. There were two problems. One was that we lived on an incredibly busy road. The other was it was pouring rain. The cars would barely have time to register that there was a little boy on the side of the road before they passed, let alone stop to buy a rock. He was out there for about twenty minutes with his umbrella, waving madly at the cars, who whooshed past him. I watched from the living room window, my heart breaking for this little guy who would not experience success. After a while, he came back to the house. He was soaking wet. I was expecting him to be crying. Instead I heard him singing a song he had composed for the occasion. "It's not the right day to sell rocks. I'll have to come back another day."

I feel so fortunate that he chose to join our family. The fabric of our life has been richer because of him. Happy Birthday to my Sensational Sixteen-year old!