10 years of red hair, the cheekiest smile and the most wicked laugh. 10 years of green, green kermit the frog green, green bike, green scooter, green helmet, green suitcase the list of green goes on and on. 10 years of a gentle kind heart, a rare find in a little boy, softly spoken, considerate, compassionate and sweet. 10 years of being told how much he looks like his mum, it makes my heart sing that this special boy, who is now 10, is a little piece of me. 10 years of cars, cars and more cars, my handbag was full of cars at the age of 2, a basket full of cars in bed with him every night when he was 3, a new hot wheels car each week for being a good boy while I did the grocery shopping, his first sit in a convertible with the top down and a love of olden day cars which I think he must of been born with. 10 years of loving lego, firstly as a meal replacement as he would sneak bits into his mouth to chew on as a toddler and finally to discover that all those little blocks, wheels and bits and pieces could be made into cars, shelves and shelves of cars, trucks, motorbikes and diggers which no one is allowed to dismantle, his bedroom shelves are over flowing with them on display and still when you ask him what he would like for his birthday he says lego cars. 10 years of being a little brother who absolutely adores his big brother, who looks out for his big brother and sometimes saves his big brother from his dare devil self. 10 years of soccer, well maybe not quite, but most certainly 9 years, of kicking, running, training, dribbling, smelly socks and even smellier shin pads. On the day Benton’s soccer coach asked Parker to put on a strip and run on with Benton’s team you couldn’t wipe the smile off Parker’s face, he didn’t care that he had only just turned 4 and some of the kids were twice his age and that the shirt came down to his knees he was on the field and in the thick of things followed by oranges on the sideline at half time.
But not everything lasts for 10 years which I am sure he is happy about, clutching BB (his special baby blanket) and a dummy probably wouldn’t be very cool as you walk into school when you are 10, but for the first 2 years of his life it was the cutest thing ever and dummy and BB came everywhere with us, just like another member of the family. There are so many little stages, phases and milestones which make up 10 years, which make my little monkey the boy he is today. Like 1 year of dressing in a purple fairy dress every day to pick his big brother up from prep, I love how at the age of 2 it didn’t seem at all like a silly thing to do, in winter a purple fairy dress goes perfectly with gumboots and a beanie and during summer you can achieve a more relaxed look with thongs and a sun hat, but by the age of 3 fairy dresses were most certainly for girls only. 8 years of being absolutely terrified of dogs, well animals in general really, until Miss Matilda joined our family and with a little hesitation at first, some nips from sharp puppy teeth and yelps from stood on tails, a new friendship was formed and a hurdle overcome. The beach was another phase, I am sure as a toddler he must of thought he was totally born into the wrong family, poor little mite, every week we would head down the beach with our towels, suncream, a big brother who loved the ocean, hats, surfboards and a toddler who absolutely hated the beach and as soon as his feet hit the sand would make for the car park as fast as his little legs could carry him. Patience, persistence and ice cream and we now have a 10 year old who absolutely loves hanging out at the beach and who got his first fibreglass surfboard for his 10th birthday. This little man of ours, who is now 10, is cautious, hesitant and procrastinates until the cows come home (he might of also inherited this from me) but once he has worked out all the pros and cons in his little head and has made a decision to give something a go he does so with all his heart. As he is about to start his 6th year of nippers, our little man who once made for the car park, now heads out the back, behind the break with the big boys, he has most certainly come a long way. We are currently going through a new phase, a musical phase, a very loud, noisy musical phase, so loud in fact we have had to put time restrictions on his practice to ensure we don’t disturb our lovely neighbours, yes Parker our little quiet, softly spoken Parker has decided this year he is going to learn the trombone, and learn and practice he does with dedication and determination to get each note and song perfect, and yes he is doing extremely well, but my goodness it is loud. With nearly 6 years of hip hop classes under his belt this week he has ventured into the world of eisteddfods, and yes I cried as he shuffled, wormed and did the beat boy up on stage, this is from a little boy who wouldn’t even do show and tell when he first started school, I am so so proud of him and all he has achieved, but really, the trombone?
As I finish typing and reminiscing on the last 10 years and everything our little monkey has achieved, the person he has grown into and the wonderful memories we have made he has just called out to me from the kitchen “Mum the things that you bake for me for school lunches are not nice, they are absolutely beautiful because they are made with mummy love”. Our little 10 year old Parker we are so very very proud of you and the little person you have grown into, the little person who takes the time to see mummy love in his lunch box each day.
Happy Birthday Monkey. xxx
