11 Years, 11 Reasons: Happy Birthday, Blue Dot!

Eleven years ago today, I woke up, vomited copiously, bought a pregnancy test, and sat, with my best friend and flatmate, in the kitchen waiting for the blue dot to disappear.

It didn’t.

We gave it another five minutes.

Still there.

Another ten.

Still there.

And, eleven years later, my son is, well, still there.

So I’m sitting down to write about eleven reasons I think he’s amazing. I don’t often do this sort of thing.

Largely because if there is one single thing guaranteed to make most people want to tear their own arm off and beat themselves unconscious with it just to make the words stop, it’s maternal pride in full flow.

But it’s my birthday on Friday, so I’m doing it anyway. And normal, cynical service will be resumed soon.

1: He Is (Sometimes Very) Funny

Not all the time, granted. But at his best, my spawn has a dry, terse wit that’s pushing at epigrammatic. Or Stewie from Family Guy, at least. “I have just been stung by an aquatic delicacy. I am hardly in the mood for seafood.” “Ah yes. Well, Granny has a very broad centre of gravity…”

2: He Shares

Not all only children get the hang of sharing, to put it very mildly. Z always shares his sweets and chocolate. If he has money and his best friend does not, he will buy a packet of sweets or a toy for each of them out of it. (He made them matching friendship rings for Christmas.)

3: He Is Good At Friendships

Ever since he was very little, Z has formed close friendships. Y’know. The sort of friendships where kids talk solemnly about stuff, secrets, feelings, life in general. And, after a falling out, will discuss what went wrong. He’s also got a knack for monosyllabic blokey friendships and charging around the beach type friendships.

4: He Manages Risk Well

Z considers himself intrepid. And one of the main reasons we can travel longterm and have loads of adventures is because he is both intrepid and plain old sensible about risk. Yes, he sets fire to stuff, cuts things up and enjoys explosions of all kind. But he does so safely.

5: He’s Creative

Any child who paints a face on a beachball in lipstick to make one of the most bizarre internet movies I’ve ever seen is, well, a bit bonkers, frankly. But from paper boats of ever-more-elaborate construction through to beautifully detailed drawings, crazy science experiments and hilarious cartoons, I love Z’s creativity.

6: He’s Smart

This is the point at which, I guess, I lose all my readers but very close relatives. Because if there’s one thing worse than maternal pride, it’s maternal pride in “my genius child”. But it’s almost my birthday. So sod it. Z’s smart. He’s a science whizz, knows huge amounts of, well, stuff, about, well, everything, writes better than some adults when he cares about a topic — such as zombies — and can hold his own in adult conversation.

7: He’s Thoughtful

Z went into a blue study for a couple of days after seeing The Cove. He cares deeply about issues such as poverty, the environment, global politics and nuclear power. He thinks originally about religion, the afterlife, the Big Bang…. Though I have to say his resolution to stop eating fish to save the planet lasted precisely as far as the first sashimi bar.

8: He’s Independent

Z can entertain himself, and think for himself. He follows his own path. Once he has decided he does not want to do something –- which is mercifully rare –- he has a stubborn force of will that is extraordinary.

9: He’s Chilled

Z’s father is a Queenslander, a species whose laidbackness is legendary. Even as a baby –- well, at least after H & I had worked out that I was so neurotic about him overheating that the poor little scrap was cold every night -– Z was chilled. He just, well, is.

10: He’s A Movie Geek

I love having geeky conversations about films – and for that matter, TV series too. We can pass many a happy evening debating the pop culture references in Family Guy, comparing versions of Clash of the Titans, or chatting about the finer points of dialogue in 30 Rock.

11: He’s Intrepid

There aren’t many small boys who have climbed Mount Kinabalu, hiked the Ho Chi Minh Trail, dived an undersea volcano, met hunter-gathering nomads and jumped onto a ferry from a small boat in midwater. He has also coped with almost unfailing good humour with hazards from mosquitoes to squat toilets and keen mobile phone photographers. Props to Z.

And, Happy Birthday, blue dot!

Now, because I’m figuring I lost all you childfree folk out there somewhere around the second paragraph, and Mothers Day has just gone by, I’d love to know.

What do you love about your kids? Soppy is fine.

I mean, seriously, soppy is great. Once in a while…