But Now I Am Six!

I told Jason a few days ago that sometimes parenting with him feels like our own private version of “anything you can do, I can do better.”  If I have a Saturday alone with the boys, I might do something special.  Like, you know, make a coffee cake for breakfast.  Or take the boys on an “adventure walk” which is really just a fancy way of saying “a walk where we look for things.”

But if Jason has a Saturday alone with the boys?  He takes them on the freaking ferry to Bainbridge Island where he then pulls them in the bike trailer to the Bloedel Gardens and all around the island, ending of course with a trip to the ice cream shop.

If I write a note to put in Gryffin’s lunchbox, I might put a few friendly lines about how excited I am to see him at the end of the day and how I can’t wait to hear about P.E.  But if Jason writes the note?  It includes a story with characters and personalized illustrations.

When I put the boys to bed, it’s PJs, teeth, books, bed.  17 minutes, tops.  When Jason puts them to bed, they usually rough-house and wrestle for a while and then he wraps up the evening with this ongoing saga that he has been making up every night for the last six months.   The three of them lay in bed together as he tells them that night’s adventure of boPeep the mouse facing down enemies like Volde-Bear and SauronSheep.

I mean, really.  It’s hard to keep up with this guy.  We make a good team, though, so I let it slide.

Most years I write a post for the boys’ birthdays.  But this year for Gryffin’s birthday, Jason was up to his sneaky ways again.  He’s been letting me think that I’m the writer in the family but now I know the truth.  There he is.  AGAIN.  It’s annoying, really.

Nonetheless, here’s his prayer for Gryffin’s 6th birthday.  It’s good, no?

———————–

Six years ago you came into this world: curled-up, tiny, helpless.
Given by God, we were overjoyed.
No turning of fall would ever be the same,
for it was on a crisp blue day we brought you home.

You have been named after something mythic, half lion and half eagle,
an animal brave and mighty.
But also an animal that is two things at once,
as Jesus is, stretching between humanity and God,
and as we are, rooted to earth and awed to heaven.

You are no longer helpless, be instead helpful.
You are no longer tiny, be instead huge in your love.
You are no longer curled up, be instead stretched up to God and out to others.
You are, however, still covered by our joy and given this day by the Three-in-One.

———————–

Happy Birthday, Gryffin.  We do love you so (and the SAME AMOUNT, btw.  For the record, I am totally  fun.   Just, you know, in a different way.  Plus I birthed you.  SO THERE).
———-

Other Birthday Posts

Birthdays Make Me Sad
They Say It’s Your Birthday!
On the Occasion of Your 3rd Birthday, the Bombings in Boston and Other Awful Things