Party of the Year

My oldest child is 8 – going on 9 in about a week. My middle child is 4 tomorrow.

The oldest one, this year, decided all on her own to throw a party for her younger sister for her birthday. She bought party supplies with her own money, planned out games and activities, and stayed up late the night before decorating. All so that her four-year-old sister would have “a really special birthday.”

This year has been tough on a lot of people, but I truly believe kids are getting it worse than anyone. My oldest is a very social creature, and thankfully she’s quite adaptable – she has many friends that she communicates with regularly online and makes a great game of it. She’s gathered group Zoom calls together just so she could read out loud to them from her favorite books. She’s organized games of “messenger tag” that keep them entertained for hours. And she takes every opportunity (of which I give her all that I’m able) to run around outside with absolutely anyone. All are welcome into the circle of her friendship.

But her younger sister doesn’t have the same resources – for one, she simply doesn’t know as many people. So she primarily relies on her siblings as her friend group.

And because the world is wonderful in many ways, those three siblings are thick as thieves. They’re an amazing circle of friends, those three. I swear, it’s like watching something out of a movie or young adult novel. They’re like the Baudelaires. They play and scheme and build and conspire together as an inseparable team. And when the chips are down, these three kids absolutely pull out all the stops for each other.

Just like today.