Heero's Knock-Out Party

There is just something special about turning six. In Heero's case, the past year marks his transformation from a little boy reluctant to climb ladders and sleep in the dark into a regular kid who swings a bat, dribbles a soccer ball, shoots hoops, and rocks kindergarten.

A short six months ago Pa-pa and I were attending his preschool graduation. It was during that ceremony that I got the first inkling of Heero's future plans. We listened as we heard from children who aspired to be police officers, fire fighters, and all the career positions you might expect from a group of four- and five-year-olds. Then, toward the end of the program, we heard our sixth grandchild tell the world what he wants to be when he grows up. Apparently, Heero wants to be . . . a boxer.

I thought of Muhammed Ali. I thought of Rocky Balboa. I imagined that sweet little boy standing up there on the stage sporting a designer mouth guard and wiping blood off his face with his forearm. In my mind I watched him dance around the ring, delivering his own well-placed punches while dodging those of his opponent. And, of course, since he is my grandson, I imagined the referee counting to ten, declaring the opponent OUT, and raising Heero's sweaty little arm up in victory amid the deafening cheers of an arena full of devoted fans.

So when his sixth birthday rolled around this past week, I could see my mission clearly. I must do my part to help this boy realize his career dream. Yes, this was a no-brainer. I must buy him boxing gloves. A tip from his mama clued me in on the color red. Even the casual observer will admit that he already looks the part.

The party where Heero acquired his gloves was a knock-out in its own right, building on a LEGO theme. There were LEGO favors for all his friends and cousins, as he models below.

Other prize-winning aspects of the party included a pinata shaped like the Number 6, a LEGO version of the Twister game, and a magic show performed by the birthday boy himself.

Rounding out the fun, in addition to all the candy treasures that flew out of the pinata, were pizza and, of course, the obligatory cake.

To cap off Heero's birthday week, I got to be his guest at his first school Grandparent's Day, where we wove a yarn spider web, combined our artistic efforts to "Draw a Grandma," and picked out two books for him at the school's book fair. (It is good, I suppose, that we are encouraging reading and other skills as a back-up plan just in case the boxing thing doesn't work out.)

And so, I close with a birthday wish for this amazing all-grown-up boy who, until just six weeks ago, was my youngest grandchild: I have loved every moment of my time with you this week. You seemed to jump into this world landing on both feet and have kept things interesting ever since. I hope you are always this ready to embrace new adventures and punch through any obstacles that try to get in your way. It won't be possible to win every fight that comes along, but I will always be among your biggest fans and you will always be Heero to me.

Changing Times

"Goog?"

It was the quietest little whisper tiptoeing across the darkness of the kids' bunk room at 4:30 this morning. Heero and his brother Beenie were spending the night, and our world had just "fallen back" from daylight savings time a couple hours earlier.

"What do you need?" I whispered back. It is Heero that often calls me "Goog."

"I lost my pillow."

I felt myself smile. Heero was sleeping on a trundle bed we had scooted out from under the daybed where Beenie was still asleep. I knew the pillow had to be on the floor only inches from his head, but I got up, went to him, and conducted a proper search anyway.

"Here it is," I said, straightening his blanket. "Can you sleep just a little more until it's time to get up?"

"Yeah."

Heero went right back to sleep, but I lay awake for just a bit, contemplating the significance of what had just happened. My youngest grandchild had gone to bed as a four-year-old and, only several hours later, shared his first conversation as a five-year-old with me. Before drifting back to sleep myself, I decided that was a pretty special thing.

Although Heero's birthday is officially today, Pa-pa and I enjoyed a big party his mama and daddy hosted for him and others of his extended family yesterday at lunch time. The Superhero party featured all the appropriate accoutrements--including the present of his dreams (a huge Hot Wheels garage from Mom and Dad), Superhero masks, balloons, and a big plate of cupcakes adorned with a "5" candle that he extinguished quite efficiently.

Happy birthday today, little Heero. It was great to celebrate with you yesterday and to have you at my house for a quick overnight. I will remember it as the night we did backwards somersaults, ate pizza and candy corn, played pirate, drew bedtime pictures, read Toot and Puddle books, and tried out your new "phlat ball."

And I will remember it as the night you "lost" your pillow. You have to watch those things, or they can get away from you.

Five years ago today, I became "Googie" (or in your case, "Goog") to my sixth grandchild in as many years. It is bittersweet to realize that, quite suddenly, I don't have any babies anymore.

That is what makes those 4:30 a.m. conversations so special.   

How To Hijack a Birthday Blog

A child's birthday party is a celebration on so many levels. For the child himself, of course, it involves a whirlwind of wrapping paper and a conflagration of lit candles. It features a cake that he gets to choose colors and flavors for, and earns him the privilege of wearing those on his face and clothes for the rest of the day. It is the one day of the year when the world breaks out of its normal orbit to revolve solely around him.

Our sweet baby grandson, Heero, had just such a party yesterday to observe the occurrence of his third birthday two days ago. His mama's parents, Nana and Gramps, offered their home as the party venue and helped out with the chili and trimmings. Somehow, Heero maintained patience until the end of our "Happy Birthday" song before he made his (very short) wish and blew out the candles on his mama's delicious Minion-themed cake ("chocolate with chocolate icing").

The fact that I had no real "jobs" to execute during Heero's party gave me the chance to contemplate birthday parties in general. Their focus changes, it seems, with the various life stages, beginning with this level of delicious anticipation you see here on Heero's face. As a kid, you get to claim your birthday as something belonging just to you. You can be totally self-indulgent without guilt and without even knowing what that word means.

As parents of the honoree, you get to recreate the excitement of your own childhood birthdays. You pick out presents you would have liked yourself, as well as those you think you might have liked if you had been a boy instead of a girl, or vice versa. You put a lot of energy into staging the perfect party that brings delight for your child and deja vu for you. You love seeing your child happy, and share his excitement vicariously.

I remember very well these first two levels in Googie's Hierarchy (Did Maslow ever think about birthdays, I wonder?) of birthday party celebration. They had their time and place, and they were wonderful. But after a couple hours of watching toy assembly amid a flurry of gift bags, tissue paper and bows, I am convinced that grandparents enjoy the best level of all--and I would call this the level of gratitude.

I feel so fortunate to have gotten to celebrate, over the last eight and a half years, the thirty-three birthdays of my six grandkids. Each one shines in my life like a wonderful, unique candle that never goes out. Each perfect little life is a cause for celebration, for laughter, for hope.

We may bring presents to our grandkids on their birthdays, but they are the ones who, without trying or even knowing, are givers of the best gifts--like the chance to snuggle into a blanket with The Night Before Christmas, to dust off classic folk-rock songs at bedtime ("Puff the Magic Dragon," anyone?), to scoop the seeds out of a pumpkin with your bare hands.

To make snowmen out of old socks, to blow soap bubbles into the backyard trees, to watch ducks swimming on a pond--in other words, to experience one more round of this world's sights and sounds and textures at a life stage when you have the time and temperament to really appreciate them. Sometimes it takes a grandkid's birthday party to remind you that these simple things are the real stuff of life.

And so, little Heero, my big three-year-old, forgive me this diversion, these random thoughts that seem to be hijacking your birthday blog. In five or six years you may read this and wonder what your Googie was smoking on Nov. 6, 2016--or if, in retrospect, this seemed to be the first sign of the dementia.

But in the years that follow, you may come to understand these ramblings and even experience similar sentiments as you become a parent, and then a grandparent, yourself. Then, little guy with a new phone and new walkie-talkies and a new farm set and those new (and very loud) drums, then you will know what I tried to say here--and maybe you, too, will know a gratitude beyond what you ever imagined possible.

Beneath the Mustache

Dear Pooh:

For the first time in my life, I am writing to and about a grandson who has turned five years old.  This happened yesterday while Pa-pa and I were with friends watching the Seattle Seahawks make horsemeat out of Denver in Super Bowl XLVIII. 

It was also Groundhog Day, and Pa-pa and I are not very happy with Punxsutawney (yes, I had to look up how to spell that) Phil's prediction that we will have six more weeks of this brutal winter weather.  I am glad, though, that we were able to sneak out between Fiascos on Ice to see you last Friday and Saturday and give the occasion of your fifth birthday its proper due even though we had to leave a day early.

Yes, Pa-pa and I bravely entered the Land of Pinkeye to eat lemon cupcakes and shower you with a brand new wardrobe of dress-up clothes.  Thanks to Wal-Mart's after-Halloween clearance, you can now streak through the skies of Metropolis in a suit without holes and tatters.  Or, if you are in the mood, you can be an Army guy in your camouflage vest instead.

Of all the things in your birthday bag this year, I think I liked the mustaches best.  Let's show our friends what I mean:

 

Earlier this week, the package of seven classic mustaches virtually screamed out my name as I walked nonchalantly by them in a toy store.  "Googie, look here!" they hollered.  "We belong in Pooh's birthday bag!"  With everything in the store going for half-price that day, well, how could I resist?

 

I know well that the mustaches won't last long.  Their adhesive backing will soon lose its stickiness.  They will get swept under rugs and lost in the bottom of the toy box.  The cat might maul a couple of them.  Their play value will not be long-lived, and maybe, in that respect, they were not a good choice on the Scale of  Relative Practicality.

 

But I have noticed that, the older I get, the more I tend to live in the moment and indulge the whim.  Just because things don't last doesn't mean they aren't precious.  Sometimes it is the very fact that they don't last that makes them precious.

 

Like the day I spent with you on Saturday.  Like your fifth birthday.  Like childhood.  Like life itself.

 

I didn't mean to wax philosophical here, Baby Boy, but maybe some day this will make sense to you.  In the meantime, just know that when you were five, I wanted for you the happiest of birthdays--and don't tell your sisters, but I think the mustache you picked was the best of the bunch. 

 

Love,

Googie