Oldest Son [sometimes known online as Ewrokka] turned 11 yesterday. Yes. e-le-ven!
I have officially become one of those men that feels older because of the age of his children.
One of the two celebrations we had for his birthday involved taking a small group of his mates out to an all-you-can-eat restaurant.
When you watch a group of 11-12 year old boys at one of these eating-places, you notice two of the most profound behavioural cues that they will soon be men:
1. the scientific debate about whether eating slowly or eating quicly will help you eat more, and
2. the serious commitment to cram as much food into their gut in the time available.
One of the lads - let’s call him H - even out-ate me (and I well-and-truly crossed the line between eating a lot and gluttony). While three of the other boys were half lying on the table at the end of the night, holding their stomache and muttering “Oh I don’t feel well” over and over again, H would cheerfully declare “I’m not full yet.”
He backed up this claim by taking two bread rolls from the buffet as we were leaving and eating them in the car. [He also found time apparently to write his name in butter on the carpark wall, which I didn't see but which I'm sure increased his legendary status amongst his peers]. Anyway, my hat’s off to H.
Well, Happy Birthday, Ewrokka. You’ve been both a joy and a challenge to raise toward manhood so far and you’ve made my life far richer than I could ever have imagined. Fight the good fight - and may your twelfth year on Earth be full of adventure, grace and growth!
5 responses so far ↓
Gautam // Mar 18, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Awww….Happy Birthday to him…!!!
Leah Maclean // Mar 19, 2007 at 9:09 am
Hippo birdie two ewes!
The fun is only just beginning Pete! If he, and you survive the next 10 years until his 21st then all will be good with the world. Until then just take a breathe - the “best” is yet to come!?!
Pete // Mar 19, 2007 at 9:55 am
Thanks folks. I’ll pass that on. Leah, it’s like the film Parenthood says: it’s a rollercoaster. You can have the merrygoround if you want, but I’d rather the thrill-ride.
And he is a legend.
themolk // Mar 20, 2007 at 10:07 pm
… and full of more “butter writing on the wall” opportunities. I sympathise with the all you can eat deal - I can remember all too well the same experience in taking a Youth Group to Pizza Hut when they still had Tuesday night all you can eats… man, THAT was scary. I am surprised someone didn’t go and get their stomach pumped afterwards each time.
Now that you have opened the “Parenthood” door - my favourite scene of all time:
Child - bucket on head, headbutting door frame.
Parent 1 (explanatorily) - he likes to butt things with his head.
Parent 2 - how proud you must be.
Just thinking of it makes me crack up. It is a class one film, and mandatory viewing for all people who have just found out they are pregnant for the first time.
Pete // Mar 21, 2007 at 11:13 am
That’s a great scene.
Speaking of buckets on heads: Whenever I see people dancing the pasa doble (if that’s how you spell it), there’s a part where they stand apart, size each other up and seem to aim at each other. It reminds me of a scene from the Simpsons wher all of Homer’s relatives are on his front lawn and the men are playing a game where they wear buckets on the head, take aim and crash into each other. It’s ruined Dancing with the Stars for me!
On the YOuth Group front, my wife and I were also Youth Pastors in the 90s and enjoyed the Pizza Hut all-U-can-eat nites. But we had one young man who had some serious emotional problems; we caught him one night after some serious gut-stuffing, saying to another kid “I’m just going into the toilets to throw this up so I can eat some more.” (We put a stop to it)
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