Complicated Boy is TEN

My Darling Boy- you are TEN today. ( Hmmmm... maybe it's about time Mommy lost the baby weight.)

Ten Things about You, at Age Ten...



1. As you get older, I see more of your handsome father in you every day. You are slender and tall and coltish, and often mistaken for Justin Beiber. You are very particular about what you wear, and you spend a lot of time in front of the mirror. According to you, the one hair you have out of place absolutely "ruined" your class picture this year. You are obsessed with sneakers.

2. You are an amazing artist with an ironic sense of humor. For example, you just recently did a portrait of the rapper Lil Wayne as Bruce Lil Wayne. You are really, really, really talented and I would say that even if I were not your mother, but since I am, I added the extra really.

3. You have made your Father's greatest dreams come true by asking him to play catch with you and watching sports with him. One day he will teach you to play golf and his cup will overfloweth. And speaking of cups--when you got your first athletic cup for baseball last summer, you wanted to sleep in it that night. And wear it to school the next day. In fact, I had to take that cup and hide it from you because I thought you were becoming too attached to it. (I have no idea where I hid it but will find it before your next game.)


4. You can be really mean to your sister sometimes, and like to correct her behavior and boss her around--but the minute you hear someone has teased her you rush to her defense, and the second she gets hurt you never fail to put your arms around her and offer comfort.


5. You still believe in Santa.

6. You can do the moonwalk. You are an incredible dancer. When the school hired a special NYC professional dance company to come in and teach Salsa, you led the entire class and were their star pupil. In the last talent show you performed a solo combination of intricate moves that brought the house down. Then your report card came home and your school dance teacher gave you a D in dance because you had trouble paying attention in class. I hope you will still keep dancing.



7. You are great at math. Despite the fact that they have taught you to do it in the most complicated way possible, and when I try to show you things like stacking you often flounce from the table and have to be gently talked around to trying it a new way. You are in fourth grade now. I'm worried I won't be able to keep up with you that much longer. I'm pretty much done after long division.

8. This year you like a shy little girl who wears glasses and likes to read. You learned the hard lesson that when you tell a confidant that you have a Secret Crush on a girl - and not to tell anyone - that sometimes that friend won't be able to keep that secret. Really, the only person you can trust is me. But I can't promise I won't sell your darkest secrets out to your Grandparents after a few glasses of wine...or blog about it to a couple of hundred strangers.

9. You used to be afraid of sleeping away from us. Then you went camping with your class in the woods upstate for two days and had the time of your life. This year we will have 16 of your classmates over for a slumber party. I think I liked it better when you had a fear of clowns and we addressed it by hiring Silly Billy to make hats out of balloons one afternoon.



10. You are honest, kind, caring, and tender hearted. You still put your hand into mine when we cross the street, although lately your method of giving kisses is to tilt your head in towards me--so that you bump me with your forehead and no lips are involved. You tell us that you want to live with us forever. You get angry if I leave and don't hug you goodbye.You are still complicated, but we wouldn't have it any other way. You have filled the last ten years of our lives with so much joy my precious boy. You are my heart.

Happy Birthday