David's 13th Birthday

Menu:  Pizza, Doritos, and Orange Crush

In response to my endless requests for information from David as to what he wanted for his birthday this year he finally replied, "I don't need much ceremony." I got specific.

Invitation?   Texts.
Decorations?    None.
Cake or cupcakes?  Cupcakes.

He elaborated. Half were to be white cake, half to be chocolate. Purchased from the store was fine. Any colour of icing was fine, but no holiday decorations.

Not a thought I had ever entertained.

Just as David had described ...

Photo credit; Freeds Bakery

When I got to Askews at 4:30pm on Friday, can you imagine my surprise?

The only cupcakes that had not yet been sold were ones with red and green sprinkles topped with sugar Christmas trees or Santa.

In my earlier parenting years, this would have panicked me, but I have 12 practice runs behind me now. In a split second I had my plan. Run to sprinkles isle and pick up blue sprinkles, through the checkout and over to Dominos. Carry cupcakes inside covered in a bag, distract boys with pizza, scrape off top layer of cupcakes, heavy on the sprinkles, 2 reused candles in 5 of the cupcakes and 3 reused candles in the 6th, (check math (5*2)+3= ... yep, 13), put on plate, burner to high, light a candle with hot element, light the other candles with the first, dim lights and begin to sing "Happy Birthday to You" knowing the guests would join in.

Enough teens to have to add another leaf to the table.

The sleep-over party lazily ended around noon on Saturday. Four guests could stay over. One had to leave Friday at 630pm for a basketball tournament. Another left reluctantly at 830pm to be rested enough for his swim meet the next day.

I offered the living room to them for sleeping quarters but they politely declined. They slept in the basement on mats and mattresses they carried down the stairs. They preferred the freedom of the large room with the unfinished floor and the support pole in the middle. Each boy staked out an electrical plug for their technology, with each having brought at least one device (computer, iPad, smart phone, tablet, DS).

"Only one can survive."

Before they went downstairs they played a game of Coup at the living room table.

They decided to "add to the narrative" by choosing a country they represented. Thus, one boy spoke in an Irish brogue, another spoke in French, one sounded like his D&D dwarf dialect, and they decided that the boy who chose Quebec would have to say everything twice - once in French and then once again in English. I was laughing until my ribs hurt.


Only 364 days until the next grande celebration of the birth of David Doral. The teen years are off to a great start.