As my boys have gotten older, their birthday celebrations have naturally become more low key. Add to that a worldwide pandemic, and Matthew’s fourteenth birthday was downright mellow. We did the cake and candles thing (or in this case the cookies and candles thing) on Sunday while Daniel was here. Matthew opted to do chocolate chip cookie bars instead of cake, so I created a mountain of cookies so there would be a place for the candles to go. I was looking for something to make our celebration a bit special, so I picked up some sparkler candles. I thought it would be fun. What I didn’t know until after the candles were lit and blown out was the fact that these particular candles also have a tendency to reignite. It had not been my intention to make my asthmatic child blow out the candles a dozen times, but it happened and was actually pretty entertaining. Matthew was a good sport and once he figured out that blowing out the flame was not going to get the job done, he got a bowl of water, blew candles out one at a time, and immediately grabbed the extinguished candle and dropped in into the water.
Today was his actual birthday and we had balloons and doughnuts on hand to celebrate. Kevin also took him to K-1 Speed, an indoor go cart spot, by way of an activity. One of Matthew’s favorite video games is one where he just gets to drive a semi-truck all over. The creators map actual roadways and he really enjoys the driving, so driving for real was a good fit.
A few present highlights-Nathan gave Matthew a Metal Earth semi-truck. Like I said, Matthew really enjoys his driving game. He also really liked the wrapping Kev used for the presents from us. Many of his BYU t-shirts have become muscle shirts in the past year, so he has needed a few new ones. He was excited about the big boy Ironman Lego and the electric razor was a less popular, but highly practical gift.
Matthew has grown up a lot in the past year. This particular age has always held a big growth spurt for my boys, and while Matthew has not gained statuesque heights like Nathan did, he has outgrown his pants three or four times in the past year, and he is now taller than I am. He has also grown up mentally and emotionally. In some ways he has always been more mature than others his age due to the necessity of dealing with his food allergies and his subsequent greater understanding of his own mortality, but there has been a big jump forward this year. All of a sudden, he is no longer a little boy. He is a young man. We have all been faced with some daunting emotional challenges in the past year and Matthew is no exception. But he has leaned on his faith and his family and has been able to withstand the adversities that have come. That’s a valuable skill to have gained. I’m hopeful that as life eventually returns to a more normal state that he’ll remember what he has learned and continue to allow all of us to support him. Matthew is the one of my children that I intuitively understand the least, so having him learn to trust us and talk to us makes a huge difference in our relationship. I’m grateful for his trust and hope our relationship will continue to grow as we all move forward as a family.
Today was his actual birthday and we had balloons and doughnuts on hand to celebrate. Kevin also took him to K-1 Speed, an indoor go cart spot, by way of an activity. One of Matthew’s favorite video games is one where he just gets to drive a semi-truck all over. The creators map actual roadways and he really enjoys the driving, so driving for real was a good fit.
A few present highlights-Nathan gave Matthew a Metal Earth semi-truck. Like I said, Matthew really enjoys his driving game. He also really liked the wrapping Kev used for the presents from us. Many of his BYU t-shirts have become muscle shirts in the past year, so he has needed a few new ones. He was excited about the big boy Ironman Lego and the electric razor was a less popular, but highly practical gift.
Matthew has grown up a lot in the past year. This particular age has always held a big growth spurt for my boys, and while Matthew has not gained statuesque heights like Nathan did, he has outgrown his pants three or four times in the past year, and he is now taller than I am. He has also grown up mentally and emotionally. In some ways he has always been more mature than others his age due to the necessity of dealing with his food allergies and his subsequent greater understanding of his own mortality, but there has been a big jump forward this year. All of a sudden, he is no longer a little boy. He is a young man. We have all been faced with some daunting emotional challenges in the past year and Matthew is no exception. But he has leaned on his faith and his family and has been able to withstand the adversities that have come. That’s a valuable skill to have gained. I’m hopeful that as life eventually returns to a more normal state that he’ll remember what he has learned and continue to allow all of us to support him. Matthew is the one of my children that I intuitively understand the least, so having him learn to trust us and talk to us makes a huge difference in our relationship. I’m grateful for his trust and hope our relationship will continue to grow as we all move forward as a family.
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