My 6 Year Old Son

In December, 6 years ago, we moved from LA to Seattle. I was about 33 weeks pregnant with Finn. It was really cold. There was snow on the ground. We didn't have anything warmer than zip up hoodies because it was 90° in The San Fernando Valley when we left. I took Niamh, who had just turned 2, to the downtown Seattle REI to buy cold weather gear. While we were there, I let her play on the old slide that was supposed to look like a hollowed out log (this predates the huge tree climbing structure that is there now). It was my little Niamh and 3 older boys on the slide. Those boys were wild. The only time they slid down the slide was when Niamh was on it and they were trying to knock her off. Otherwise, they stood at the top of the slide and jumped to the ground on top of each other in a pile. They were very loud, had a lot of energy, and I'm sure had each spent time in the ER for battle wounds. I remember holding my belly and thinking to myself, I hope the Ultrasonographer was wrong and you are actually a girl. I don't want a boy.
I'm no longer worried. Yesterday Finn turned 6 and he is a perfect mix of truck loving, rock kicking, airplane drawing, couch jumping, weapon wielding boy, and soft-hearted, cuddley, mama-loving sap (the latter thanks to his dad). Who could be worried about a kid who's Holy Trinity is Martin Luther King, Barack Obama, and Santa Claus?

Don't tell Finn, but I didn't try to make a reservation at the trampoline place where he wanted to have his party. I told him they were booked through August 2014.
I blame it on PTSD from the scene at the REI slide 6 years ago. If three young boys jumping from a slide in an outdoor recreation store could make me want to turn to Chinese Herbs to change the gender of my unborn child from male to female, imagine the remedy I'd seek if trapped in a trampoline room with 23 kindergarten boys.
The party was held at the Mountlake Terrace Pool. It was perfect. All kids had fun and no bones were broken.

 

Happy Birthday Finn. 

Thanks to you, I know that not all boys are icky.

I love you, Pal.

Oh, and so we are clear. 20+ Kindergarten Boys are loud no matter where they are.