Birthday!

Not mine I hasten to add.  Today is my first born’s 10^th birthday.  Ten years? Where did that go then?

It’s hard to reconcile the boy with the cheeky smile, dry sense of humour and an endearing sense of thoughtfulness with the tiny scrap of humanity who entered our lives all that time ago. 

As births go it was pretty awful. Three and a half days of labour followed by a caesarean section under general anaesthetic.  Needless to say I wasn’t too with it for those first few vital hours, and my husband was booted out and left to pace the corridors like an old fashioned father.  But he came out perfect in the end which was a blessing.   And he is still a blessing too – more than he’ll know until he has children of his own. 

I remember feeling so scared that this tiny human being was completely dependent on me for his every need. He was only just over six pounds with “legs that look like they should be hanging out of a nest”.  My husband’s words, not mine.    His legs haven’t improved much – they are still long and skinny but he runs like the wind now.  

It’s been a long run up to this birthday and the excitement levels have been fit to bust.  We’ve got three friends coming for a sleepover tonight, family tomorrow and then a trip to an outdoor activity centre on Sunday with more friends followed by pizza and cake.   I only hope that his birthday lives up to his expectations.  That’s the hard thing about kids’ birthdays; it’s up to you to deliver the perfect day / weekend.  No easy task but let’s hope I’m up to the job. Wish me luck!