36 Going On 6

Do you remember being 6? I think I can remember it, and it's probably the first year I do remember. Of course, the farther I get away from 6, the less I remember about it. Next year, 7 will be the year of enlightenment. My baby turned 6 recently. A very cool birthday, where you have your own ideas about which friends to invite and what kind of party you want to have. But you're not so opinionated yet that you insist on a party with a thousand kids that will break the bank or the patience of your parents. You still enjoy the simple and the few, the quality versus the quantity. I do know that I was 6 when I met my best friend. When I was 6, I learned to ride a yellow bike down the sidewalk between our house and Aunt Kathleen's house. When I was 6, I wanted to pick everyone's flowers, much to my mom's and neighbors' chagrin, since our whole block and everything in it belonged to me. When I was 6, I think I remember having my birthday party in my parents' garage, and I got to invite friends from school and neighbors down the street... and I think I cried because I didn't get a prize for winning one of the birthday games (I was unswayed by the argument that I was the birthday girl, for crying out loud, and didn't I just get a whole table full of gifts??). Now my girl is 6. And she gets to do all the great things that 6-year-olds do. Man, nothing beats being a kid, does it? And guess what? It's pretty fun doing it all over again too.