Ron is 8

Ron is 8. I have to repeat it because otherwise it doesn't sound real somehow. Ron is 8. I know a lot of people have older children and 8 doesn't seem like such a big number, but it is to me, because I now have an 8 years old, I have been a mum for 8 years. It's been 8 years since I last had a quiet cup of coffee at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Ron is 8. I can see the end of the childhood years closing in on him, I can see him embracing each sign of adulthood, wanting to be a grown-up, or at least a teenager. I can see it, and am powerless to stop it, he doesn't believe me when I tell him there is nothing wrong with being a kid, that not worrying is better, that he should savour every moment. He was always in a hurry to grow up my Ron. But I can also still see my baby in him, my beautiful baby who I can't even remember life before him. He hasn't changed much my Ron, from when he was that baby who didn't want to sleep so he won't miss anything. He likes sleeping now, but he still doesn't want to miss anything, he still wants to know everything, his mind is still constantly on overdrive. He is still a redhead, though some people told us it will change it hadn't, but he does have more freckles than you can count nowadays. He still loves it. He is still his own person, he doesn't see or understand peer-pressure, he doesn't understand meanness, he is still loved by everyone who meets him.
I really can't summarise or explain Ron, first because how can you summarise a person in a sentence or even in a paragraph? and second because every thing I can write will sound like I am bragging, or exaggerating or will make him sound perfect. And I am not, and he is not. I do have a few mental pictures that comes to mind when I try to think how can I describe him here. The first one is of standing in the darkest corner of the house, holding a crying baby for hours because he couldn't sleep; the second one is of a two years old toddler who chose a heart shape cake for his birthday and never changed his mind; the third one is of a three years old making a bargain with me - he will stop annoying the nursery teacher and do the arts & crafts activities he hates and in return I will teach him to write; the fourth one is of a four years old boy on his first day in a new school, a new country and no knowledge of the language, going into the school with a very happy "bye bye mummy" and without looking back; the fifth one is of a six years old boy going into the operating room to have an oral procedure that required general anaesthesia and when the orderly told him, trying to make him feel better, "don't worry, it's going to be okay", I will always remember him looking up at the orderly, such a tiny figure in a hospital gown, holding a teddy and saying very seriously "I am always fine". And he was. He is.
He's been through a lot of moves in his eight years my Ron - 5 houses in 4 cities in 3 countries. He had to start a new life twice, and every time he did it in a way that leaves me in awe. He is an old soul my Ron, he sees too much, knows too much, worry too much, and we expect too much of him. It's the curse of the older brother I guess, that he will forever be the more grown-up of the two.
But not on his birthday. We make it a point to give him everything he asks for on his birthday, to make a very very big deal out of it being "his day" to choose everything. He doesn't really like big birthday parties, my Ron. When he asked for those for his fifth and sixth birthdays he got them, but usually he doesn't want them. I know you are going to say it's easier like this, but it's really not, because each year I have to think of something to make the day special.
Every birthday starts the same, the day after Christmas I start nagging Ron to start thinking about his birthday wish-list. Ron almost never asks for anything, so I am teaching him that it's okay to ask. I also try to teach him that he can't have everything he asks for, but that lesson isn't going really well. He has everything he asked for. I just can't say no to him in these things. This year was a bit of a problem because he couldn't think of enough things to put on his list, and because we didn't know how we wanted to celebrate since his birthday was on a bank holiday weekend and my parents are here, we wanted to do something special, but we had no idea what. Ron was no help.
So I basically spent the last four months freaking out about Ron's birthday.
And because of everything else that's been going on with us and with Yon, I was laso feeling like a terrible and neglectful mother anyway, so that did very little to my success in organising a great birthday.

One year old

8 years olds

It ended up being a two days celebration and then some. On the big day he got, according to tradition (that he set when he was 2), a heart-shaped chocolate cake with chocolate icing and tiny sprinkles, 9 candles, 10 balloons and 7 presents. He got everything he asked for, which included DVDs, WII games, books, Scrabble, magic tricks, 2 Arsenal t-shirts, Arsenal ball and Arsenal legend DVD. He also got birthday cards from friends in school, from Arsenal and from us because he was really insistant that it's important to him. I also wrote him a birthday message on the blog's Facebook page, which got him some very moving birthday wishes from people he loves, and he was so very excited to see that people remember him and are thinking of him.
That day was an all Ron day, and he did what he wanted, which basically was watch a movie, play on Hidai's iPhone, watch a football match and play on the WII.
Very celebratory.
We also ate pizza for lunch, which was very nice but confused Yon who is used to pizza in the evening, and wouldn't believe us when we told him it's not really the end of the day yet.
In the afternoon my brother & sister-in-law came over and Ron got an extra card (their present was given in the morning, because presents are a morning thing. We don't believe in waiting in this house), and attention.

Traditional birthday cake

Birthday boy

On the second day, which was a bank holiday Monday we took him (and everyone else) to the Warner Brothers studio tour to see the making of Harry Potter. I definitely have to add here, that we booked our tickets before the royal family did their tour so technically they followed in our footsteps and not the other way around :). The day started out a bit rocky (Hidai called me fat - well, that's my version and I'm sticking to it), but settled down after an hour or two (and several apologies and grovelling), and the tour proved to be a great idea because Ron (and everyone else) had a great time and it's really really amazing to see everything they have there. The most amazing things are when you ride a broom, take a tour down Diagon Alley, go into the wand shop, and see a really huge model of Hogwarts. Unfortunately the tour is not without it's downsides, like the huge queues at the entrance, the prices they charge on things during your visit, the food offerings. It doesn't ruin the day, just clouds it a bit. Anyway you know I hate giving a detailed minute-by-minute description of what we did, so if you really want to read the whole review you have two options - the London with Kids page, and the TripAdvisor page.
Ron was ecstatic and so very exhausted by the time we got home, he didn't even eat the chocolate wand he chose...

The third day was cupcakes day, in which Ron went back to school and I made the 36 cupcakes he wanted to give out to all the kids in class and all the teaching staff. Because he couldn't decide on a different kind of cupcake, they got chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing (which also contained some  Lotus spread my parents brought from Israel and gave it a something special feeling). I was worried about the cupcakes thing because I didn't have special cases and decorations for them and I was worried Ron would feel it's not special enough. In the end, I put them in red cases, because you know, Arsenal... And decorated them with white chocolate stars and fairy dust and I think they were very dashing :). Unfortunately I couldn't taste as there were exactly 36, and Ron took all of them. The kids (and teachers) said they were good though, but it could be they were just being polite. We will never know. I did make Ron swear that next time I can make a cake and slice it. So much easier, both with making and transporting it all to school.

Cupcakes

Chocolate wands

The fourth day I had a girls day out with my mum, in which I bought clothes. For myself. You have no idea how rare that is. But that's not the story here, because first thing is first, and we started the day with buying some clothes for the kids, and I got Ron five new short-sleeved t-shirts that he was very happy with.
That's it. I've finished another birthday, it was crowned "best birthday ever" by Ron, who was very disappointed he now needs to wait another 365 days before his next birthday...
Thank God for that. I have no idea how the hell I am going to celebrate his birthday next year...