Today, Theo turns 10. It's pretty amazing to think he's a whole decade old. The contrast between his relatively huge self and our 10 month old house guest is quite jarring. Was he ever that small? How did he get to be so big and competent and full of his own self?
For me the past decade flew by and I'm so thrilled to get to share in the journey of supporting Theo in becoming Theo.
He choose to celebrate his birthday at breakfast. So this morning at 7am we all gathered around bangers and cinnamon toast to fete his new year. I like end-of-day celebrations, but I must admit it is a relief to avoid the agony of spending the whole day with a small person impatiently waiting for presents. He's currently happily decorated from head to toe in Nerf gear and playing legos.
Coming home from the hardware store last night where I made my last minute dash out to get my gift to him, I decided either I'm truly weird or cool. I came home with 5 - 6 foot PVC pipes and 6 different fittings for them. Theo will transform them into various weapons and structures over the next year. He recently learned how to use the pipe-cutter so the world is his universe.
I suppose it is a combination of factors that compels me to buy strange things as presents - my deep desire for my kids to be creative with their world, my strong urge for them not to expect and demand the newest and shiniest item from the store, and my enjoyment of giving them what really tickles them in their moment of developmental growth.
When he turned one, I presented Theo with a huge storage bin full of rice he could climb in and play with. Rosie got her own rolls of scotch tape when she turned two just for unrolling all herself. Around Theo's 5th Christmas, I put a box full of random bits and pieces from our local junk/hardware store. I'm considering 6 rolls of different colored duct tape as Theo's Christmas present this year.
Which all works out to the same end - I adore my kids. I love seeing who they are and what is fermenting deep inside their little hearts, brains and souls. I love helping draw out the fullness of their bright potential. And I'm so glad to have the honor of being a parent for these 10 years.
2 comments:
Happy birthday to Theo! Boy you really do have a way with interesting & unusual gifts. I love it! I got more traditional stuff from my parents (except for the year my dad gave me a balsa wood plane kit - that was out of the box for us).
Sara, you're brilliant! Give kids stuff they really will appreciate! Thanks for kickstarting my brain on Christmas gifts for my (mostly) adult children who are creative and could use supplies more than finished stuff. I've given tools before, but this year it might be beads, wool, and even LED lights.
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