It’s monsooning in the northeast today, but we are feeling sunshine in our hearts because it is our son Yates’ fourteenth birthday. Moms and dads, you know how it is when your kid hits a birthday. You think back to what you were doing 14 years ago. Both he and I were feeling a lot worse than we do today. I can guarantee you that.
But those are the most magical memories, especially when it’s your eldest. You just will never ever forget the feeling of every minute of that morning he was born. It was so long ago – 14 years – I didn’t have an iPhone yet. We were taking video off of a camcorder when we went to the New York City hospital at like 5am. I was so enormous. You’re so incredibly juicy at the end you feel like Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka. If they pluck you with a pin, you feel like you would just explode. I don’t miss that piece of it.
I asked Yates what he wants to do today, and he wants to see The Nun II. We’re going to go as a family, and that movie is rated R. So, it’s a no – it’s a hard no. There is, however, something out called A Haunting in Venice that is an Agatha Christie adaptation that is PG-13, so we might wind up seeing that instead.
Regardless, birthdays are an occasion to stop and think about how much your kids mean to you and the passage of time – have you made the most of these 14 years; how are you planning to make the most of the next four or five that he’s with us before he goes off to college? Although, I’ve told my kids many times that I don’t want them to go to college. I am trying to infantilize them. I don’t want independence, and I really don’t want them to think they can do anything without mommy. I’ll talk to Dr. Laura about it later.
Jokes aside, your child’s birthday is almost like a marking of the passage of time. Where were we? What’s he doing now? What am I doing? It’s almost like a gift in many ways. You can do a gut check on whether you’re living your life the way you want.