So, D1 turned 15 on Saturday. Scary, huh? Well, not to you, of course, because you do not have to consider the learner's permit and the imminent new driver in the household, as well as all the college research that is starting to loom.
But, the fun part is that he turned 15. Big boy now and all that.
Anyway. I decorated things the morning of his birthday/party, while D2 fed himself kasha and APPY! (apples), so I guess instead of dinner and a show he got a breakfast and a show. D2 was very interested in the proceedings and kept pointing to me and inquiring as to my actions. At least, that's what I think he was doing, since he still sounds Japanese when he talks. I explained that these were decorations for Big Bro, which appeared to have blown his mind, because he started pointing at everything going "BeeBoo?" and crowing delightedly.
I think maybe he thought that banners and streamers were a new unfathomable manifestation of BeeBoo, whom he adores, by the way.
D1 made his way downstairs at a reasonable time and appeared pleased with the decorations, which was my first clue that he actually wanted the whole party to happen and was glad that we were making a big deal about it. Talk about subtle clues!
When I asked him, a month ago, if he wanted to have a party with friends, he sort of shrugged and made a mooing sound. You know, the kind teen boys make when they think they sound non-committal. Because 15 is not as big a deal as 16 is, age-wise. Silly mom with her silly metric system.
So, for a while I felt like I was working to create this birthday party that I needed, for some reason, while my child was tagging along just to humor me. Because, really, who DOESN'T want to add more things to one's to-do list and coordinate food/activities/etc. for a gaggle of teens? Especially when the said gaggle includes vegans.
I was complaining to my friend Emily about it and was like, "What do teenage vegans even eat?"
She said, without missing a beat, "Doritos. Trust me on that one."
Turns out, they do eat Doritos, because two huge bags of those were almost all gone by the end of the shenanigans. But also, because we're those kind of parents, we (and by "we" I really mean H) made vegan chili and grilled zucchini as well as having the hamburgers and hot dogs for the carnivorous members of the party. Poor vegan in question was very touched that there were things for her to eat, since she came to the party expecting to munch on crackers all day.
Also I provided them with a tin of nuts, which got mostly consumed by the carnivores. Lots of "do you like nuts?" jokes were uttered, because, hey, nuuuuts, hu-huh. What can I say, I aim to please.
We even broke out the fire pit and had us a two+ hour s'mores bonanza (which the vegan girl could not eat, but it was ok, because by then she left), and a nice talk, because by then I stopped freaking out about accidentally laming up my son's party with my lamity-lame ways. I mean, he never indicates that he is worried about us being lame, but I worry. Because, ok, do you sit with the kids at the table? What if you're going to seem like the helicopter mom? Do you give them space and stay away? What if that seems rude and like you don't care about your child? What do you talk about? I mean, the old trope of asking questions to make people talk about themselves can't work with teens, because it's the -gasp- adult asking them to divulge stuff about their lives. Sooooo, what do you say?
Very stressful. I am not sure any teenager stresses so much about his parents as some parents (ahem, like me) stress about not ruining it for his friends. Just sayin'.
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