The Boy's Big Day

Today is The Boy's birthday.

Despite the fact that I am a woman, I'm not really in touch with my feminine side. Emotions make me nervous. But on this day, I have this strange, fuzzy, sentimental thing - I think it's called a "feeling"- and therefore humbly ask you indulge me a few moments of misty reflection on the wonder that is my newly minted five year old boy.

Both The Boy and The Girl have been talking up their birthdays for at least six months. The Girl is two years older, but their birthdays are only 4 days apart. I have been capitalizing on this by throwing them joint birthday parties. I thought this was the year that we were doomed for a breakup, because for months they couldn't agree on a shared location. The Girl wanted the Stamford Museum & Nature Center, while The Boy wanted the Stamford Raceway.

Negotiations were intense and feelings were running high. But thanks to a last minute intervention by Condoleeza Rice, detente was achieved. If a 5 year old boy and a 7 year old girl can agree on a birthday party location, there IS hope for peace in the Middle East. The party will be held at My Three Sons in Norwalk, which coincidentally happens to be my least favorite kids' birthday place on the planet.

Since they share their party, I try to make the actual day of their birthday feel special. So I decorated the kitchen with garlands and balloons, served him a sugary, non-nutritious breakfast, dressed him up in his favorite samurai warrior shirt, and dropped him off at school with an array of kosher delectables for him to share with his schoolchums.

And I'd like to steal a shopworn technique from the great David Letterman, and use it to share the top 10 things that I adore about The Boy.

1. Bedtime and the way he makes me cover him up completely with his sheet before he will allow me to leave his room. (I must assure him that his face, blue blankie, dogs Willy and Hairball, and the back of his head are all included).

2. His speech quirks - they way he struggles with the letter 's', how he pronounces th's like f's, the way he mixes up his b's and v's (turning 'maybe' into 'may-ve' and a 'movie' into a 'moo-bie'). I'm sure this will cost a small mint to correct via speech therapy someday, but for now it's adorable.

3. The smell of his hair after a bath - green apples.

4. Mornings, when he and I are the only ones awake and the house is still quiet. He pads downstairs to come find me in the office and snuggles into my lap with his sweetly rumpled, vulnerable demeanor. (Note to The Boy - I would not mind if we shared this closeness at a slightly later hour than your usual 6am wakeup time).

5. The way he randomly thanks me at times for things like packing his lunch, and how he congratulates me when I do a good job of playing with him.

6. The daily wardrobe choice of his favorite ill-fitting camouflage pants. He's painfully thin looking with long, spindly legs - I cinch them in as far as possible and yet they still manage to look like floods AND hang too low on the waist, showing off his Jimmy Neutron undies and making him look like a miniature Vanilla Ice.

7. The impromptu math quizzes that he gives me in order to reassure himself that I really do know how to add four plus four.

8. The way he gets so excited when he is waiting to start a soccer game - he squinches up his eyes, balls up his fists, and runs furiously in place waiting for the action to start.

9. His walk - he struts around like there's a soundtrack playing in his head. (I envision it to sound much like the theme song from Sanford and Son).

10. The current obsession with Star Wars, and the creativity he uses in MacGyvering an endless array of household items into light sabers and laser pistols. Our house is never quiet - there's a constant stream of sound effects as he engages in a neverending battle with the invisible minions of the Dark Side.

Happy Birthday, my little Jedi Knight. Manager Mom couldn't be prouder.