Somehow I feel like a Joni Mitchell song

... and the seasons they go round and round ...

Yesterday was Christopher’s 17th birthday. Yes, this guy:



... and the painted ponies go up and down ...


Somehow, 17 is beginning to sound alarmingly grown up.

When he was little, he used to need me to organize birthday parties for him in the garden, provide entertainment for the mini-machos from kindergarten that I could dangle by their ankles if they got too rambunctious.

... we’re captive on the carousel of time ..

But he doesn’t need me now. His friends helped him organize a party in a cafe in town, and his parents weren’t even actually invited. Peter and I weren’t sure whether we should drop by or not, since we didn’t want to appear to be checking up on him, so we went to a different cafe for a drink around midnight. The lovely waitress there (who was also invited to Christopher’s party after work) told us that although parents aren’t generally welcome in situations like, this rule doesn’t apply to “cool parents” – and she assured us that we definitely qualify as “cool parents”. When I mentioned it to Christopher this afternoon, he beamed at me and agreed and said he was glad we came by. While it is naturally quite gratifying to be considered “cool parents”, Peter and I are still a bit mystified about what that means or how we qualify.

In any case, I was glad we stopped by yesterday evening. It was good to walk into a room with such a positive atmosphere and find our son surrounded by such good people. If he doesn’t need me now, I’m glad he has good friends.

... we can’t return, we can only look behind from where we came ...

But I look forward to having a drink with Christopher some time later this week and hearing all about the party from him. He is still one of my favorite people to talk to.