Ian's 12th Birthday Party

Ian has not had a friend b-day party in YEARS!! Our kids get the option of spending their b-day money on throwing a party for their friends or getting gifts from us. Ian has always chosen taking the cash for gifts in the past.

I was so excited that he decided to have a party this year. He rarely plays with friends. He's kind of a loner, so I was shocked when he said he wanted to throw a shin-dig. It turns out, he thought he could throw together a "free" party and still get the b-day cash from us. His idea: play kickball and frisbee. No food. No prizes. Just games. "Can I still get my b-day money if I don't spend any money on the party, Mom?" Well, I'm sorry, but a party isn't a party without at least a chip or cookie or something! It's so funny how kids' brains work.

We ended up roasting hot dogs and making Smores, and then heading over to the school for some night games: kickball and frisbee. We then drove the boys down to the library where we played "cops and robbers." My mom and Carson were the cops. Aaron and I divided the boys into 2 teams (he and I each headed up a team). The goal: 1st team back to our house wins. If you get stopped by the "cop" you have a 2 minute penalty. Aaron was confident his team would win. I, of course, knew my speedy team would be the champions.

We said, "Go!" and headed off for the 1.5-2 mile adventure (depending which way you ran). The entire team had to stay together. It turns out, some of the kids don't like to run up hills. :) Aaron's team got home 10 minutes before mine. There was a lot of trash talk. One boy said later that night, "That cops and robbers game nearly killed me." That boy was on Aaron's team. I think Aaron was a little bit pushier about being speedy than I was. I'm all about making people feel good. Aaron's all about the "win!"

Ian smiled the whole night. Happy 12th B-Day, Ian!