Yesterday, the Kid turned 10. And what an interesting day it turned out to be!
I had stayed up the night before, baking him a cake so he could take to the sitters. They were planning a Valentines party and were going to add the Kid’s birthday to the mix. The wife had also picked up some snacks for the sitter’s party, so when I dropped him off, the Kid was all set. Moreover, knowing birthdays don’t come every day, I texted my co-laborers at church and let them know that I wouldn’t make it to Bible Study that night, because hey, it’s the Kid’s birthday.
Now usually, the wife gets home before I do, but unbeknownst to me, she had made a detour at Target, so I was the first to greet the Kid in the evening program and boy was I in for a surprise…I guess the Kid was expecting the wife, so he had a little dejected look on his face when he saw that it was Dad and the first thing he said was “Where’s Mom”? Taking it in stride, I said to the Kid, I don’t know son, how was your day? He said “Oh, it was ok” and started back to the family room I guess to play on his DS. I thought to myself, “wow”, and then asked the Kid if he was ok and why was he pouting? He said he wasn’t pouting and that’s the way he always looks in the evening. I said to the Kid, “Ok” and proceeded to put my phone, keys etc. away. And before I could even think about what to cook for dinner, the Kid says “What? No presents??” Ah, I thought to myself, now it all becomes clear…the Kid is hurting for some presents! *LOL*
Thinking to myself, this would be a great chance to help the Kid better appreciate what he has, I didn’t mention to him that we had got his present several weeks ago and it was upstairs in our room. So, I just replied to the Kid and said that I thought the Birthday Cake I baked you was a pretty good present and the Kid just didn’t respond…whoa! Thankfully for the Kid, the wife made it home shortly thereafter. She too asked the Kid how was his day and the Kid just said it was ok. She then asked the Kid how was his party? And the he said “which party? I had two”. The wife and I were both surprised and asked how did that happen and the Kid explained that he took the cake to school and the teacher used that for a party in the classroom and so there wasn’t any more cake. And then he had a party at the sitters too. So I said “wow; you had two parties and you’re STILL Pouting? Bro, that’s not good”. Then the wife laughed and the Kid finally said he was sorry. And I thought to myself, “Gee Kid, you’re slowly getting it”.
I proceeded to the kitchen to start on dinner for the Kid and the wife and while I was doing that, the older siblings were calling to wish the Kid a happy birthday. I overhead the Kid telling one of his sisters that all he got from his parents was a cake (how sad, I thought)….and she reminded the Kid that she asked for a cake and didn’t even get that (but hey, she lives in Texas!) so he should be thankful and we all laughed again. Anyway, it was getting late, and the Kid seemed to be handling the fact that maybe his parents didn’t get him anything, and I was really struggling to constrain myself. When the Kid went to put on his pajamas, the wife and I decided that we’d finally give in and let the Kid see what we had for him all along. But before we could do that, the oldest son called, and that conversation kept going and going and going; so long, that I was wondering if the Kid was purposely dragging this out for a no present payback! *ROTFL*
Finally, the wife broke in on their conversation and told them both that the Kid had to go. Tomorrow was still a school day and it was well over an hour past the Kid’s bedtime. We sent the Kid upstairs one last time to brush his teeth, and I snuck out the present and put it in one of the chairs, next to one of the DS styluses that the Kid keeps leaving all over the house. When the Kid came back down to say good night, I told the Kid that again he had left one of his styluses in the chair again and he needed to keep up with these things because if he lost them, he wouldn’t be able to use his DS and by the way, I thought there was another stylus in the bag that was next to the stylus.
My friend, words cannot express, and even though I had my camera ready, I was so taken away with the Kid’s stunned reaction to getting Shining Force and The Hobbit for his DS, I didn’t get to capture the moment on digital; but its forever embedded in both the wife’s and my minds. Honestly, the Kid was so stunned that we thought he was going to faint…*ROTFL*. After getting over the initial shock, the Kid was just beside himself with Joy. After he finally calmed down, we explained to the Kid how we had gotten those games weeks ago and that there were so many other things he’s missed out on simply because of the attitude he often displays when things don’t go his way. Finally, the Kid gave us a look that would melt any parents’ heart (see his picture) and gave us both a kiss good night and went upstairs and I thought to myself, “this time I really think he’s got it”!
Sometimes we don't even realize how many blessings we hold up because of being unappreciative of what God is already doing in our lives. The day turned out to be a biblical object lesson and birthday presents all rolled into one. Yes indeedy, it was truly a great day when the Kid turned 10!!
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)
Reflections on Love and life on Valentines Day. 
Switching gears, the second picture is one of two siblings that I was able to capture not long ago. I was at the library shooting birds and they were with their mom and I shot them because the three of them (the kids and their mom) startled the birds so that the birds flew away. And when the mom stopped to take pictures of them, since I no longer had subjects, I shot pictures of the three of them and then the two kids. It was a fluke moment, but I thought it captured the essence of happy siblings loving one another.
