It all started with a slow dance

So, here I am sitting in my office with Green Day blaring in the living room. There are about 15 kids hanging out in our backyard messing around. Now that we area back from vacation, my son is having a belated birthday party. The kids have already watched Godzilla and Anchorman, and have consumed burgers and chocolate cake. Nothing too out of the ordinary, except that there are GIRLS at this party. In particular one, Miss Jennifer Mitchell.

I am not sure when it happened but, my shy, quiet little boy has turned into this gregarious, exceptionally funny confident young guy. And girls are noticing. Most of the kids are all on the swim team together and know each other pretty well from practices and meets. But, I started noticing the looks and the bashful flirting going on a while ago between Ryan and Jennifer. The mutual attraction fan club was pretty much confirmed when, Jen's mother called me up two weeks ago and said the girls wanted to come over and fill Ryan's room with balloons when he wasn't around. There they all were, a bevy of girls, complete with air pump, standing in my son's room filling it with colorful balloons. What an impression it made on Ryan later that day when he returned home. How cute he looked diving into the balloons that those girls had left for him to find.

And then, there was the end of the year swim team party. After the awards ceremony and the potluck dinner, there was a DJ and dancing. The kids all did group dancing and hung tight together, being silly and challenging each other in group line dancing manoevers. But, then, a slow dance came on. I turned around and my jaw dropped. There was my son slow dancing with a girl...not just any girl, but, Miss Jennifer. Where did he ever get the nerve? So plucky, and confident and cheered on by his best guy friends. Oh, you can believe that we have been teasing him mercilessly ever since, but, apparently he doesn't even seem to mind (which kind of takes the fun out of it!)But, with that slow dance, a threshold was crossed. Time to hang on loosely and allow him become more and more independent. Kind of exciting and scary for me at the same time. The times, they are a changing. Happy 15th birthday Ryan!