My baby boy turned six this week! Time is a funny thing – on the one hand, it feels like he was born only yesterday, while on the other hand, it seems like he’s always been part of the family, and I can hardly remember what our lives were like without him.
We celebrated his actual birthday with a small family dinner, and will celebrate again on the weekend with even more family. He enjoys being with his friends, but insisted that all he wanted to do for his big day was see all his family, and we were only too happy to oblige. Presents included a new set of magnetic building tiles, and add-on sets for his two (!) different (and incompatible, of course) marble run systems, which were all very enthusiastically received. He’s a reader like his mama and an engineer like his daddy!
To further celebrate this momentous occassion, I’m turning again to one of my favourite poets for children, the creator of Winnie the Pooh himself, A. A. Milne.
I found this wonderful copy of Milne’s poetry collection (published in 1950) in a second hand store, many years ago, and being such a fan of his work I couldn’t pass it up. I actually have several vintage copies of Milne’s works in my home library, and I adore each and every one of them! I simply can’t resist beautiful vintage books, especially when they’re written by one of my favourite authors.
The final poem in the collection, simply titled The End, perfectly captures the confidence of a six year old who’s sure that they are the perfect age, and is content to be that age forever – at least until the next birthday rolls around! Every day spent with this sweet, kind, loving, clever, curious, stubborn, wonderfully weird little boy is a true gift for all of us, and I couldn’t imagine a more perfect child for our family. He is my perfect little boy and I’m so very glad I was chosen to be his mama.
The wonderful Michelle is our Poetry Friday host this week!
Lovely post Jane, and what a charming, delightful, and curious boy it sounds like you have. Sending him many Birthday wishes. I’m a big fan of A. A. Milne too, and have a couple of his poetry books, love the art and the poems. My daughter who is now grown and on her own recited this poem for a talent show in her school when she was six, and what a wonder-filled recitation she gave. Thanks for all!
Oh, that’s a wonderful anecdote! I just love the way Milne seems to really capture the essence of childhood, in all its wonder. Every year brings new discoveries and growth!
Yay for being sweet, sweet six! Clever as clever like his parents 🙂
We’d like to think so! 😉
My grandson is six, and it is the perfect age. I, too, am a fan of A. A. Milne’s work. My mother-in-law insisted on buying a set of the Pooh books to have in her home for the great grandchildren. Enjoy this time! It seems to fly quickly by.
Six is so much fun – still sweet and cuddly and happy to spend time with his parents, but getting more independent by the day. I know the day will come when he doesn’t want to snuggle with me, so I’m savouring this period of growth and change. 🙂
Jane, your little boy is six! Happy Birthday. Time has surely passed on by. Thanks for the Milne poem. My 2nd granddaughter is going to be 6 next January so I will keep the poem to share with her next year. Have a wonderful family party.
Six is such a fun age! Sorry the comment page was giving you a hard time! I think there’s a spam filter on it – I have to manually approve of comments before they appear, and it can be a bit aggressive in its attempts to protect me from spammers! 😉
Jane, Happy Birthday to your sweet little boy. Time has moved fast so enjoy your family party this weekend.
Jane, I am having a difficult time logging in to your comment page. This is the 3rd try. I love your photo and am amazed your little boy is now 6, a wonderful age to be. Happy Birthday and have a wonderful family party.
I love Pooh bear! And six IS a wonderful age! Enjoy every minute of it. They grow up too fast! (We read a lot of Pooh Bear stories when my three boys were young – they are now 30, 25, and 23!)
My goodness, time does fly! Whenever I comment to my mum that I can’t believe my child is already six, she just laughs and says “wait until your child turns 40, then you can say you feel old!” ;-D
Lucky boy! Lucky mama!
Oh, six is such a wonderful age! (Though I’ve loved something about every age with my girls. ☺️ )
Happy birthday to your sweet, kind, loving, clever, curious, stubborn, wonderfully weird little boy. (Your love for him shines through those words!) 🤩
Happy birthday to your boy, Jane!