Little Surprises

Aaron and Bridgette are close in age - just a little over a year apart. I love that they're so close in age. Well, I haven't ALWAYS loved it. It was a tad difficult when I brought Bridge home from the hospital and a little one-year-old was bent out of shape because this crying heap of flesh was getting all his attention. We decided to tell him that she was his little princess. (After all, I was Mike's princess. It made sense...kind of.) Aaron took that to heart. When they were toddlers and I took them to the park, Aaron's much more social sister would attract alot of attention from the other kids while her shy brother hid in the shadows. He'd only stand for that for so long, and then he'd appear and physically remove her to where he was playing and his princess was claimed and she would happily accept the role as his playmate. It was somewhat amusing to watch. She never seemed to mind.
As they grew older, they did not suffer from sibling rivalry. This was, in part, due to their different genders. Aaron is every bit a boy as much as Bridgette is a girl. Aaron was shy, and Bridgette was social so she would speak for him in social situations. I'm not sure this was the healthiest thing, as he is still a quiet boy at sixteen. (But, his friends are mostly outgoing and seem to speak up for him when needed...when his sister doesn't...) Aaron is very technically minded and Bridgette is - ummm...not. So, she has dubbed Aaron the fixer and programmer of all of her electronics and he steps in and saves the day often when things go awry in her digital world. They balance each other out quite nicely. They would do well to marry somebody like the other.
In fact, just recently, Bridgette has been invited into Aaron's large circle of friends. It all works out because there are quite a few girls in Aaron's group and they all adore Bridgette...and me! :) Just today Aaron called to ask if the whole gang could come home with him and Bridgette for the rest of the day. Since it was about 2pm on Memorial Day, I figured that meant we were having a party after all! You see, Mike is in Canada and I was feeling LONELY! My kiddos left to go swimming with their mutual gang of friends in the waterfalls at the state park near our home. I was kicking myself because I hadn't planned ahead and invited friends over for a picnic. What was I thinking???? Aaron is an EXCELLENT burger griller...so, he brought a couple boys and girls home and I got to entertain. I just love doing that! These kids are the BEST! Burgers, Mountain Dew, X-Box and cupcakes! AND...all the girls love to hang out with ME! And, my son loves that because he's got his eye on ONE special girl who loves to hang out here with us! She happens to be the one who invited Bridgette to be in their group of friends. And so we're back to the beginning.
Aaron and Bridgette are helping each other out. Bridgette loves Aaron's friends and they love her...and Aaron appreciates that her social skills are keeping all the right kind of girls around. :)
This is a really fun age and these are really fun kids to be the mom of. I am having such a fun time.
And their friends? They're ALL great kids! I want to adopt all of 'em!