18 Years old! I did my job!!!

So that's it. My main job as a mother is over. It was my responsibility to make sure that my son hit adulthood. Bish, bash bosh and we've hit that point.

It's a bit mind blowing actually. I started writing this blog during COVID. At that point son was moving from junior school into senior school. Now he's finished his GCSE's and on Friday he started his final year of school (well I guess collage, but he's in 6th form at his school so I still think school).

I'm working really hard on treating him like an adult, but he's still my baby boy and so it's tough. Though he's been more mature than me for at least 3 years so hopefully I don't make mistakes more often. It's also helped by the fact that he's stepped up a gear and is really behaving like an adult suddenly. It's all very transitional and strange.

For me the most difficult bit is that I feel he's lost his childhood magic. This is something I've never lost. I still believe that faries live amonst us. Not like tinkerbell, more like spirits of the sea and the forest. I see magic in the world around me all the time. Son however, has lost this and pooh pooh's it just like his dad does. I don't mind this, I'm used to it - fortunately I'm very confident that I'm right and those that don't see the magic in the world have just lost that bit of their soul. I'd rather be me, I feel it must be very sad not to be able to see the magic.

Crikey I digressed there didn't I, this was supposed to be about son's 18th. A week before his birthday I started the decorations. With signs that hung from the ceiling in the sitting room and dining room. Then as the week went on - with a focus on the dining room I just kept adding and adding.

In my house it's not strange that it's the dining room, as ever I mention we're built into a hill and the house layout is odd. Therefore as you come out of the kitchen you're in the dining room (not strange), as you come down the flight of stairs from the first bedroom floor, you're in the dining room, as you come up the stairs from the sitting room to go to the kitchen or upstairs, you're in the dining room. So it really is the centre of the house (although it's not the centre of the house, it's at the back!!!). 

By the time his birthday arrived it looked like an aladins cave of decorations. I was really quite chuffed with it - and with the exception of the balloons it was also very ecologically friendly. Also very pleased with that fact. When I tidied it away on Sunday all that went into the bin could curl up in the fist of one hand. RESULT.

Son was massively spoilt by everybody. Husband and I have purchased him tank driving lessons that he'll do in October (that's what he wanted) and we also got him a pendant he wanted that included a bit of one of Eric Claptons guitar strings. However, the rest of the gifts he got from people were unbelievable.

Did I mention that the weekend before my brother brought an Apple Mac for my mother who said she didn't want it. So brother gave it to son! So son's godmother bought him a custom desk for his birthday. It needed to be custom so it could slot into available space in his room. Deep, but not too wide.

Then for his birthday my brother gave him an old guitar of his he didn't use any more. Son's favourite band is Metallica, it's the same guitar the guitarist from that uses and unbelievably expensive. That came with an amp, a pedal and case. All husband and I had had to do for this was buff up the case and get some repair work done on the fret as well as get it restrung. Even better, he kinda knew all the presents he was getting, but we'd managed to keep this one as a surprise. 

Brother rang up to sing happy birthday and was a bit confused by how quiet son was, what he didn't realise was that son was totally overwhelmed and simply couldn't find the right way to say thank you. I explained this to brother and sent him a cheese hamper - I mean nothing says thank you like cheese!

My parents gave him a swiss watch and husbands family clubbed together to get him a different guitar pedal (if I knew anything about electric guitars I'd tell you more). I'm trying to think of the other things he got. I think that those are the main ones, but frankly that's enough huh!!!

I think son's going to arrange something with friends now that term has started, but for his actual day he wanted to keep it reasonably quiet. We went into town, had his watch strap adjusted, then went to the guitar shop in the Brighton lanes to buy some wires (no idea why) then had lunch at Pho. After this we home to watch a film (latest Mandalorian - which I actually really enjoyed, I haven't enjoyed any of the new Star Wars films for years - well since it relaunched in the 90's - but to explain that is another tangent, perhaps for another day). 

With party food in the evening as we watched the film, by the end of the day our stomach's were extremely stretched.

So whilst it was actually a quiet day, it was the day son wanted. He spent many hours on his new guitar. I don't think he'll ever appreciate how much we put into the cost of the amazing presents he got. I mean who paid for the watch to be fitted properly, who paid for the wires he needed for the guitar (along with the fretwork and strings) - it all adds up. However, the enormous gratidue I have to all the people who spoilt him is just impossible to express and what we spent was small fry in comparison. 

Let's see what he organises with friends. I've told him if they want to go out for a meal it'll have to be something we can pay for with our tesco clubcard points. We have about £145 of those, so that's almost £300 of food vouchers he and his friends can spend. That's not too shabby. It's just a shame it'll have to be at a chain pizza place or similar - but if they want something posher they can pay for it themselves!

I shall finish the tale of the 18th with the birthday cake, not the one I'd dreamed of doing. Friends have done amazing ones with broken down barbies surrounded by boozy miniatures, I had planned to do the same with a Ken doll, but son refuses to drink so it would not have been relevant!