And then the two for ones turned six....

And so here we go again. Another couple birthdays without a party.




I know you're sorta upset. You there. You with your freckle on your left ear lobe.




And you there, too. You with your freckle on the tip of your nose.




And you with your "momma waked up," and "I almost falled out of the boat," and "look dad, I throwed the ball." I can't correct you because you're so cute.




And you with your thumb sucking. I can't correct you either.




And the tooz of you riding bikes with gears and breaks on the handle bars. And snapping your fingers as you wind your way around life.




And, like, actually throwing and catching a ball.




And tying your own sneakers.





And swimming without life jackets.




And drinking beer.





And taking walks in the woods by yourselves.




And contemplating life.




And reading books by the dozen.




And looking people in the eye when you say hi.





Okay, so maybe not the last five things. But you're six now, so it'll all be soon enough. Too soon.


And someday when you guys are sitting in your dorm room discussing how unfair it was that your mom never ever threw you a birthday party, you won't be mad at me, will you? I'm hoping that even though there was never ever a birthday party with friends- no invitations. no pool parties. no bowling parties. no arcade parties. no streamers. no mountains of presents. No. None. No.- you'll realize that maybe it was just as good, if not better, when it was just us. Just. us.

Maybe.