Can you believe it…I was uninvited to my son’s birthday party! I was so shocked! It happened just like that!
Let me give you some background.
Yesterday was my son’s 6th birthday…we celebrated as a family on Sunday after church and it was a blast…we played mini golf, we played arcade games, we played a little laser tag and topped it off with a family dinner at Spaghetti Factory! What a fun celebration!
And the celebrations continued…cupcakes for his classroom at school, and a party with a few friends and Grandpa and Grandma in the evening at our home complete with pizza, cake and little bottles of Gatorade…and don’t miss the pinata, water balloons and soccer.
There were even some presents.
On the way to school that morning I was thinking that I would possibly drop off the cupcakes and let him enjoy them with his class. I hadn’t decided completely, but was leaning in that direction. So, I mentioned that I could either bring the cupcakes back to school later, or we could take them in now so he could celebrate with his friends later. With very little thought he dropped the bomb… “Mom, how about if you don’t come to my party at school.”
Yep…he said it. It was perfectly ok when it was my idea…right? But now that it was his idea, I was suddenly sad inside, but tried to keep it to myself. I asked him why. He said, “because I can just have a party with my friends.” Pretty good reasoning…that was what I was thinking too. Hesitantly I did agree…but left a little sad and needed to get my thinking right.
He is 6…he is growing up…a little fast I might add! He is so good at making friends…he is kind to others, and he is learning to share. He gives the other boys high fives on the soccer field when they do well. He cheers for everyone. And, he has confidence…that makes my mama’s heart happy. He can walk right into his kindergarten class and not look back. He even thinks of children who miss out on something and tries to make up for it. Isn’t this what we want mamas?
We want our sons to grow into confident men who love the people around them. We want them to be comfortable without us…mostly 🙂 We want them to experience and live life. We want them to take care of others now so later they know to take care of their wives and children. We want them to remember others. And it all begins with these little acts of independence.
Heading to the playground without holding your hand. Buckling their own seat belt. Cutting up their own steak at dinner. And, yes, even uninviting their mom to their classroom birthday party.
As I thought through the life that our littlest has to live in the years to come, my heart beamed with love for him. He is growing daily and I am so very proud of him. Of course, he is still 6 and he has lots to learn and my husband I can’t wait to teach him. He has many years to learn. I am choosing to embrace the process…be confident in his love for his dad and me and his siblings and let him grow.
The loss in growth isn’t personal…Growth isn’t a slight to me as I am not always included. It is exactly what we want. Exactly what is supposed to happen. So grow on sweet boy! Love God and others with all your heart! Try new things. Embrace what God has for you in this life. And, enjoy your classroom birthday party. I can’t wait to hear all about it!
Blessings,
Little Joseph’s Mommy (and Big Joseph and Hannah’s too!) <3
