He proudly “slept upper night” and came to me asking when he was going to school. I started talking to him about his birthday and he wanted none of it. I still moved forward. I had to do it for me. I sang him happy birthday and told him how much I loved him. He moved on quicker than I did and was ready to talk about something else.
We got ready for school and went out to wait for the bus. He was so excited to get on the bus. I had talked to his teacher in front of him about having pizza or snacks for his birthday but I didn’t keep talking to him about it. He is going through a stage where he only wants to do what he wants to do and everything else is too overwhelming. His teacher made his party happen.
I could not have asked for a better experience for him. I knew that every time I had tried to tell him what we could do for his birthday he said no and didn’t want to hear anymore about it. It’s hard for me to know that planning a party for him is not something he can handle right now but beyond thankful that he could have a party at school with his class and he loved it. That is the joy I’m holding onto.
His teacher sent me pictures and told me the stories that I hold close to my heart. I know that his love for school, routine, and consistency are what he needed for his birthday. My wants and needs for a different kind of party are because I want to give Owen exactly the magic my mom did for me. She made everything special. To know that he had a great day, wore a birthday pin because he wanted me and his grandma to see the pictures, and that he wanted to tell everyone he is thirteen made my heart sing. And it is his birthday so he should have exactly what he wanted.
When he got home he told me so many things about his day including the fact that he had a party at school. He told me he ate “cupcakes kinda like a muffin.” He then told me he had a pepperoni roll which I know he had pizza and he said something orange. He also said there was music and too many people in the gym because they were loud. He then said that they were going to have a lockdown drill and he was going to pull the fire alarm but was not going to the Special Olympics on Monday. He got a lot of the details correct and a few of them close.
When he came in from school I asked him what he always wanted to do with mommy’s phone. He said you can’t add Toon Blast to mommy’s phone. I said whose phone can you put it on. He said Owen’s phone. I pulled it out of my pocket and he said Owen’s phone. I showed him how to open it and he immediately went to the Play Store and Toon Blast. His grandma got him a new phone for his birthday. He played with it for a few minutes but he won’t let it out of his sight.
He had told me he wanted to order food but I think that became overwhelming for him so I fixed him his favorites and maybe we will order tomorrow. He had two goals for the night to talk about taking a bath and seeing grandma tomorrow. I told him he could take a bath and he could see grandma tomorrow but before I said anything else he said if I sleep upper all night. He then went into saying it multiple ways trying to get the wording right.
My sweet baby O is thirteen. It is the most amazing feeling to know he has grown so much and is thriving. I know the year ahead will be another beautiful story to our amazing journey. I can’t wait to see where it goes. Never give up on the hope for tomorrow. The challenges of yesterday make the victory of tomorrow that much sweeter. Smiles to all and donut daze!