Monday, February 11, 2013

Birthday Celebration

Kai’s grandparents were in town so we had an early birthday celebration for him.

We were to meet them at the Lego store where Kai would get to pick out a set of his choice.

We are still working on teaching Kai to be more appreciative and less greedy. Before we left home, my wife and I spoke to Kai that he could have one set, and to not ask for any more. We reminded him that he had just gotten two Lego sets from our trip to Legoland last weekend, and he would likely be getting additional birthday presents as well.

At the store, he greeted his grandparents with hugs, and then set about the store. A Star Wars set caught his eye. That was the one he wanted, he said.


But then he saw something else, and he wanted that one, too. The Star Wars set he saw first was an expensive one. I didn’t want him asking his grandparents for more.

Kai wasn’t happy that he couldn’t have the Chima set, too. I wasn’t happy that he had already forgotten the talk we had with him.

Bubbe came over to talk to him.

She told him that if she bought everything now, she wouldn’t have anything to get him the next time she was in town. Kai pondered that for a second.

“When are you coming next?”

And that made me laugh, just a little.

I was even happier that Kai stopped making a fuss about wanting more. He finally was genuinely appreciative of the gift he received.


And when we got home, he started to work on his new set right away.


And later we had dinner together, with cake, of course.


After that, he got to open one more gift, this one a special one from his grandfather. Kai was able to guess what it was: tins! He had Mom bring the rest of his collection downstairs so he could see all of them at once.


And with that, we had a very nice birthday celebration.

My wife told Kai that she did not have grandparents, and that he is a very lucky boy to have so many grandparents.

And so he is. And not just because of presents he gets, but from all of the love they show him. That is priceless.

7 comments:

  1. Yay! I'm so glad he was happy with one gift and didn't make a fuss! That's wonderful! Looks like he picked a really fun lego set, too! That is so true what you say about grandparents. My boys don't have any..well, any that are involved in their lives. It's sad! Kai is a lucky boy! He looks genuinely happy. Loved that he got more tins, too!

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    1. Betsy, I wouldn't go as far as saying he didn't make a fuss, but it didn't last as long as it has in the past so that is progress.

      That is a shame that your boys grandparents are not involved in their lives... it is there loss as well as the boys'. Kai really does enjoy seeing all of his grandparents.

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  2. I wish Andy's grandparents lived close by! When they come and visit, he doesn't want to interact with them, sometimes even tell them "bye, bye"...we are working on it!
    How lucky to have an early bday celebration with his grandparents! I am glad he enjoyed their visit!

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    1. Geovana, some of Kai's grandparents live far away and don't see Kai as often as they'd like, but we are grateful that he enjoys seeing them whenever they visit. I think it can be hard to get a child to interact with someone when they don't want to. One challenge is to find the right balance between encouraging the child to interact, while not forcing something that may make it even more unwanted. I'm sure having visitors can disrupt the routine and that can be difficult for children like ours who just want to do what is comfortable for them.

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  3. I suppose the great feeling of being a Grandparent lies in being able to, once again, relive the magical time when they were young parents to the child's parent, and seeing so much of
    him/her in their Grandchild. They get appreciated and rewarded each time they make their Grandchild smile. I hope to be a good Grandparent one day.

    Kai is fortunate in being able to see his Grandparents. I, too, was raised without seeing my Grandparents (for more than a few times due to distance).

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    Replies
    1. I think grandparents are often better able to enjoy the moment with their grandkids. Too often, as a parent, we are worrying about the future, or thinking of all the things that are wrong, and don't fully appreciate the moment.

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