Where do I begin love? Looking at that photo of you makes me want to laugh out loud. Right now you are skinny arms and legs now and not the adorable chunker who would crawl into every nook of the house getting into mischief.
Your dad and I have so many wishes for you as you face the future. Since the day I held you to my breast I’ve always innately known the awesome responsibility of being a parent. To guide you, nurture you and watch you venture out into the world is a privilege to me. I’m so glad you chose us. Our family is such a source of joy for me.
You have your dad’s charm in spades. A mischievous little rascal since birth, you have such an easy way about you. Where your sister and I are brooding, a little hot tempered and sensitive, you my son are cheeky to a fault.
I’ve laughed so many times despite myself when you deserved punishment for bad behavior. That argumentative streak is stubborn isn’t? Even on my worst days, your goofy exuberance and joy for life have evaporated all my rain clouds and made me giggle. Making me laugh is your superpower.
I secretly love that you still hold my hand at basketball games, traveling and in public in general. Most boys have long since given up. I will cherish these moments before teenage shame of your mom kicks in. You are such an affectionate, compassionate boy and I hope you always have those qualities in abundance as a man.
There have been so many highlights this year for you and us as a family. Most recently I loved that you finally outgrew your Star Wars undies because your friends were teasing you at sleepovers. Seriously little man? I wish I could find Star Wars undies in my size.
My biggest fear was that because you were always such an active kid you wouldn’t enjoy reading. Thank goodness for the Hunger games and Maze runner. I love your enduring passion for strong female characters and hearing your comparison of dystopian novels to the actual world you live in.
I remember the moment when you began to understand the cruelty with which humans can sometimes treat each other when we discussed war, entrenched poverty and the loss of civil liberties. I love that you understand third world problems can easily become first world problems if we let them. Raising people up is always the answer my son and I believe you are starting to understand that at your young age. Not too long ago we had a discussion about Tienanmen square and what a historical moment that was. I watched as tears sprang to your eyes considering that courageous moment and the loss of life that accompanied it.
I love that for the longest time you really didn’t understand color or ethnicity or race. In the past year we finally had a discussion of what “you” were. The product of an Indo- Canadian Mom and German-Canadian Dad blessed to live in America. That it took you almost ten years to clue in is an immense source of pride to me.
I love that you don’t accept gifts for your birthday because you have enough of everything. Enough love, food, shelter, friendship, family and opportunities. That even though you tend to be impulsive, you’re learning to reign in those impulses. You take this constructive criticism quite well and are becoming more aware of it daily. Your maturity grows by the day.
I love that when you are excessively mouthy, I will pull out Youtube to make you watch documentaries about child labor and you want to pull your hair out at your predictable mother and roll your eyes.
I love all the homemade gifts that fill my house made from your ever growing hands. Our recent Sumo match on a frozen lake in snowshoes might be one of the best day’s I’d had in a long time. My goodness you are a persistent, tough little goofball.
I remember how you would both crawl into bed every Saturday and Sunday. Even though it is less frequent, it still happens from time to time and I will always hold on to boundless warmth I feel for you all.
As a mother it gives me great joy to watch the love expressed between my children. Even though you annoy your sister to no end, tease her friends and harass her, you will take out the garbage for her, console her when she’s upset and are intensely loyal.
Your laugh is still as infectious as it was the day I first heard it. Even with the preteen funk of a young man needing to CONSISTENTLY put on deodorant and CONSISTENTLY wash your favorite sweatshirt, I still see the last remnants of a little boy in you.
Watching you with your friends amidst pizza and pancakes brings such delight to me. They are memories I will forever cherish. Boys on the verge of becoming young men with a world of possibilities laid out before them.
Every meditation, quiet prayer and hope is for you and your peers to live in peace and balance. My wish for you is to recognize human suffering with compassion and strength and not turn away. To see all others as your equals, deserving of the opportunities offered to you. I’ve always wanted to build that world for you with your help.
My heart is a boundless well of love for you my son. I’m very proud of the man you are becoming.
Love mom.
=======================================
Go forth and break bread: In honor of Birthdays…Lazy moms’ cake
