This time, his grandparents and a cousin came over.
His cousin arrived with a gift for Kai in hand. But his grandparents had Kai’s present delivered to our house earlier, though we hadn’t shown it to him yet. As some of us went to the kitchen, Kai went up to his grandfather who was settling in in the living room. “Papa, did you forget something?” My wife rushed to explain to Kai that his grandparents had, indeed, gotten a gift for him.
And that brought the smile back to Kai’s face.
The only tense moment came when I asked Kai not to use his iPad at dinner. After protesting for a brief moment, he engaged in conversation the rest of the time. He even volunteered to play the piano for his guests without anyone prompting him to, saying that he knew they liked to see him play.
Soon it was time to open presents…
blow out the candles…
He received a couple of great Lego sets, and started on one right away.
It was a nice evening. Perhaps the most noteworthy thing about it was that there wasn’t anything particularly noteworthy. There were no meltdowns, no stress. Just good times.
Nice.
Sounds perfect...no stress...the best kind of family gatherings and celebrations! happy birthday to your son! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Betsy!
DeleteI know the great feeling it is to see your son grow with each event in his life. You simply cannot buy a parent's pride in seeing his children mature before his eyes.
ReplyDeleteEvents like these are great ways to mark the growth your children make, and it is definitely nice to see!
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