5 on a Friday: Big Kids Are Fun (21/52)

 I spend so much time blathering on and on about how darling Minnie is that I sometimes forget to document how much I enjoy my big kids.

It is so fun to be the parent of big kids, you guys. And I am someone who adores newborns and loves loves loves toddlers and thinks elementary schoolers are darlings. BUT I ALSO LOVE BIG KIDS.

1. They can make their own plans. This is lovely. (It can be hard to throw them birthday parties, though. Jack is great at organizing his own parties, but we have been trying to nail down details for Harry’s 18th for weeks, and last year, he didn’t celebrate in any kind of organized way for the same reason.)  I like having kids over and doing nothing to make it happen. Dorothy even ran out of the house and jumped into a friend’s mom’s car the other night (a car with other giggling kids already in it) tossing over her shoulder that she was going to the park. SO CUTE! SO EASY!

2. Their sports are hands-off. So far, we have only experienced this with Jack and Harry because middle school sports are BANANAS (get ready, parents of elementary kids. If you thought lower grade travel sports were a lot, BUCKLE UP) and in our experience require the very most parent participation. (And Harry’s tennis team experience has been weird— parents are SUPER DUPER involved and even, like, organize snacks for the ADULT PEOPLE playing the sport. We are definitely the weirdos who pay zero attention to any of this and expect our kid to run his own sports life— but thankfully that’s an outlier). It’s wonderful to just attend events as spectators and not even worry about how your kid is getting to or from the field.

3. They stay up late, which can feel at first like it’s infringing on your off-duty hours, but they are genuinely fun to stay up late with and like normal TV and appreciate funny things and can talk knowledgeably about popular culture and world events. They’re like fun friends who live with you and want to hang out most of the time but also never bring any food and eat all of yours.

4. Speaking of food! They suddenly eat like normal people, and all the little kid food quirks and restaurant restrictions and general mealtime headaches go away.

5. They like to do what you like! For me this is shopping, going out for fancy salads, and getting our nails done. Plus movies. And errands— which they make more fun by helping with. IT IS MAGIC.

Minnie? DID NOT ERRANDS EASIER THIS WEEK. But maybe she made them cuter.