Birthday Will

"A birthday is a celebration of your life up to this point. It's like your own personal holiday, and you celebrate that you have made it this far in life. Like I am celebrating that I haven't done anything really stupid yet, and I have made it to be 11, and I'm still here. And all the people who love and like me want to celebrate that with me."
-Will Metcalf

Yes, our young philosopher turned 11 today. Not only does his birthday come up on the heels of Christmas, it practically gives Duncan's birthday a flat tire. So it can feel a little like a hangover. We have to work a little harder to keep up the enthusiasm and change things up a bit, but with Will that's usually pretty easy. He is a good sport and lots of fun. So even thought I started birthday shopping at midnight last night, and even though his presents were wrapped with packing tape (apparently the scotch went to live with the Christmas wrapping supplies), and even though it was my third Golden Corral lunch in 13 days, we had a very memorable day. During lunch, he filled me in on the causes of the French and Indian War, and he taught me some things I had never heard before. Not only is he a philosopher, but a historian as well. We went shopping and picked out some cool stuff, and after a dinner of hamburgers and homemade french fries, singing, presents, cake and ice cream, his birthday feels very well marked. Will spontaneously gave both Dan and me a hug and told us thank you for everything.

This was the first year in many that we didn't do birthday parties for the boys. And it was okay!