And this year you moved at warp speed.
And I just realized something. As an etiquette maven, I shouldn't call you Young Master Buxom any more. You're 13; you're not a "master" any more. You're not a man, though. (Even though this morning you said you were going to "miss being a kid.")
We're Episcopalians, so we don't do much of anything to mark the occasion. We don't have anything like a Bar Mitzvah. (It's just as well; I'd have disgraced myself by blubbering all over the place.)
Oh, I held it together while everyone was awake. We had a good day. We made breakfast to order: three hard-boiled eggs, two strips of bacon, and a toasted, uttered bagel. We gave you two boxes of Krispy Kremes to hand out to the kids in your advisory. After school, we went out together, and I bought you a new bike. One that would fit your long legs. And helmets for both of us. On the way home, "Slow Ride" played on the radio, and we laughed over the way it sounds when I play it on Guitar Hero. And sang along.
Dinner was more of your favorites: New York strip steak, baked potato, brussels sprouts. Yellow cake with caramel icing.
No, you're not a man. You're more like an adolescent giraffe, anyway. At 5' 9" and 115 pounds, you are the tallest, thinnest creature in Cook County. You're the tallest member of the family; you have the biggest feet. You have the deepest voice--and most of the time, the loudest voice, too.
The coolest moves, too. They were impressed at the Virgin Records Mega-Store on Hollywood Boulevard.
But you're still willing to pose with the Easter bunny.
Or next to the plaque commemorating the founding of a hospital by your great-great-grand-uncle. Yes, it's dorky, but you'll still pose to oblige me.
You know what? They never tell you what a crushing weight of love you're going to feel for the baby who turns you into a mother--(or a "Mamy," as you insisted on spelling it--in caps--when you were in kindergarten.)
Or maybe they do tell you--but you don't understand because nothing like it has ever happened to you before.
And another thing. They never tell you that the love never stops. No matter how stretched-out and long-legged and manly-sounding the baby gets.
Happy birthday, boy.
Love,
MAMY
Happy, Happy Birthday, Poppy's Teen!
ReplyDeletePoppy, he looks like a wonderful young man.
And you made me cry.
I send him a very big hug.
ReplyDeleteHe looks like a baby bird...and I've seen that look before.
So right about the love never stopping. I posted a comment on a toddler mum's blog this morning when she was stressing about how it would feel when her 3 year old sonm grew to be a teenager and rejected her.
ReplyDeleteAs a Mum of 4 teenage boys, I felt qualified to tell her that the total love between mum and son doesn't stop... it might change in how it manifests itself but it's still SO there. I think that you're probably discovering that yourself with your boy. Boys are so fun though. Enjoy!
Amen and happy birthday!
ReplyDeleteI almost wish I had a daughter to marry him.
ReplyDelete-J.
Happy day to all. What a keepsake post, one for the baby book. Such a handsome boy!
ReplyDeleteLove the liquor in the background of the first birthday photo. Was it all for his party?
What a good sport at his age! Many happy returns of the day to a special kid--and his adoring MAMY.
ReplyDeletecarol:
ReplyDeleteLiquor for the party? HAHAHAHAHAHA. No, we're Whiskepalians. We always have a frightening supply.
In Steve Martin's movie The Man with Two Brains there's a scene when his host offers him a drink and he asks for a Tahitian Lady. The host asks him "Flaming?" and Steve Martin answers "Oh, you don't need to bother." Then the butler comes out with this insane Tiki beverage.
We aim to be like that.
Sweet. Really sweet. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteAnd welcome to the Mothers of Teenagers club!
Yes, welcome to the Mothers of Teenagers club. Come on in, the water is...well, it's snotty and it has an attitude. At my house anyway. Maybe that's just girls. But yeah, you love the little punks anyway. :)
ReplyDelete