My dear boy is six years old.

And "dear" he is. So, so sweet and good. I know, I know. This is mushy....but really. This boy is everything a Mother could want in a son. Kind, easy going, smart, SO caring, funny, polite, expressive, curious, honest, generous, understanding, TOLERANT (he has this one brother in particular.....), and the list goes on and on. One thing I've really noticed since he has started Kindergarten is that he's really bloomed socially! Kids love him, teachers love him. He seems to be...dare I say it....popular! When I pick him up from school, so many kids go out of their way to say goodbye to him. He's friendly now - not painfully shy like he used to be. He's happy...and I love that. Anyway, the main thing is this: I just *know* that he'll take care of me when I'm super old and have strange hairs coming out of my ears. And that really means something to me.

The big day was last week. After dropping R off at preschool, we went to Starbucks for a celebratory hot chocolate (him) and coffee (me) before school. I made some fun surfboard cupcakes for him to share with his classmates, which were apparently a big hit. That afternoon we went to the park as is our daily routine. I don't hate the park the way I used to now that N's friends, and their very cool Mom's come as well. It's sort of like a playdate for everyone. All 7 kids play together (siblings too) and we get to talk.

We had planned on going bowling on N's birthday, but because Big Al took him a few days prior - we skipped it. It worked out fine though. N opened his gifts, and then we went to the boys favorite pizza place for dinner. It was hard to tear him away from two particularly cool gifts - The Razor E100 electric scooter from Big Al and I, and Heely's roller-shoes from Grandma. I was sort of worried about the Heely's but he took right to them - he's actually really good at it.

After the boys spent God-only-knows how many dollars worth of Grandma's quarters on video games, and the "grabber" machine, we went home and had cake. The bowling ball/bowling pin cake. The grand finale of the birthday season. That's it. No more. No more cakes, cupcakes, baked goods of any kind. Well...not until....Friday......when I have to make 4 dozen cupcakes for a bake sale/silent auction at R's school. Oh well. At least I had a week off!

All in all, N had a great birthday. At least that's what he told me as I tucked him in that night.

However - Six has brought with it something sad.

He calls me "MOM" now. Not the usual "Mommy.........."

"MOM"

He very sweetly but seriously told me that it was time for him to start calling me Mom. Because that's what six year olds do. He got this idea from a friend of his, but I can tell that he really feels that it's time. I'm trying to get used to it, but every time that sweet face looks at me and calls me something other than "Mommy" it's like a knife in my heart. Silly, I know. I just love him so much....and dammit I'm still his Mommy.