Hot Friday Night Plans

The kids are growing up. It's mostly a good thing, but sometimes I realize I'm just not ready for it to happen yet. Becky is 17, and Josh will be 15 on Friday.

Mental note: Josh will be 15 on Friday. That's mere days away. PLAN TO DO SOMETHING FOR THE OCCASION.

That boy's birthday always seems to sneak right up on me, and I'm not sure why. Poor kid.

So the teens are growing up. Becky has a job, Josh is doing most of Sam's chores all on his own, and Luke is on the brink of teendom himself. Even the nephew is growing up, because all kids do. He's working at a camp this summer and is gone all week. He gets 24 hours off from Friday night to Saturday night. It's surprising how much we miss that kid hanging out here. It's also surprising how much we look forward to Friday nights around a firepit catching up with the kid we haven't seen all week. And he's not even ours.

So whatever we do for Josh's birthday, his only request is that we be home by 6 to see his cousin. My kids are pretty easy to please in the gift department. And clearly we've instilled in them that family and friends are the most important things we'll ever have.