Oops! Happy Birthday, Patrick!

So, I get the bad mom award. Yesterday was Patrick's birthday and I didn't blog about him. He doesn't read my blog so he would never know, right? But, his little sister reads and she would know.



And...she would tell him!! So here I am trying to make up for it! Don't think I forgot him. Quite the contrary - we were on the phone all day yesterday for different things. From shoe size to where we are eating dinner tonight to how he did on his oral Chinese exam! We covered it allllllll!

He turned 22 fabulous years old yesterday. This picture is how he looked when I first met him. (He's on the left, Brandon's on the right.) He was 7 years old and just a spark plug! I was crazy about him and Brandon from the very beginning.



I have to share a story because it was my first glimpse into parenting.



First, you should know that Richard and I met in September of 1993, got engaged in January of 1994 and married in March of 1994. (Get your minds out of the gutter, peeps. It wasn't a shotgun wedding. We just knew we were supposed to be together and did not want to wait.)



In December, while we were just dating, I had the boys by myself and we were out doing some Christmas shopping. I was very high on myself on what a fabulous mom I would someday be - things were going so well. They loved me! Brandon had a Book It coupon, that he'd gotten for reading, to Pizza Hut good for a personal pan pizza. So, we decided to use it and eat dinner there. Well, with the personal pan pizza came a BADGE and a certificate.



To put this mildly........Patrick absolutely fell apart. Melted down.



He starts crying and wailing and I'm sure there was gnashing of teeth - maybe mine. All because he wanted a badge, too. He gets louder and louder. And, with a big smile on my face and a soothingly calm voice, I try to make him understand that this was Brandon's reward. Not his. Then he starts a little bit of flailing in the chair - ya know, kind of a temper tantrum but not on the floor.



By this time, everyone is looking at me and the red-faced child. I want to shout "He's not mine!!" but I simply take his hand and start to lead him to the bathroom so we can discuss this further. And then.....and then...AND THEN...he wet noodles!! I mean completely limp with me still holding his hand right there in the floor of the restaurant. I really can't remember what happened after that. I did manage to get all our food into boxes and get out to the car where I'm pretty sure I called my friend Tammy for some help!



But, I didn't give in. I stood my ground. And, I still married his dad.



I'm still crazy about that boy.



We're leaving in a few minutes to go up to Stillwater to take him to dinner to celebrate. Maybe I'll pay him back and throw a fit of my own at Mexico Joe's!! That'll teach him, right?



B.