A Birthday during a pandemic

Last week, my oldest son turned 10. He had been planning his “dream” birthday party for months: a few of his best friends, a day at our local waterpark, then Mexican food, cake, and a sleepover where he gets to stay up past 9-9:30pm. Turning “double digits” held a real importance to him. Of course, like most special events and occasions this spring, the coronavirus put a hitch in our plans.

So, as you do when you are still trying to make things special for you kids, we adapted. The party was whittled down from 5 friends to 1 friend – and no sleepover (but a raincheck for all!). The waterpark was of course closed, but my Mom’s backyard pool was not. Mexican food was still available for takeout, and I ordered a cake. The neighborhood had another parade for birthday kids in the neighborhood. (There were 4 boys on our street alone!) And, we let him stay up with his little brother until about 10:30, when they both were zonking out anyway.

Our family, neighbors, and Myles’s friends and teachers really came through for him, too. I was able to compile a montage video full of well-wishes for him. His class had a GoogleMeets just to say hey and Happy Birthday. He later told me he was sure it was going to be a boring birthday and that he was surprised how awesome it was. So it just goes to show, even when something limits your plans, you can still use creativity and innovation to make things better.

Anyway, I thought I would share some of my photos from his big day.

Birthday morning – lots of presents!