A Perfect 10

It was Birthday Weekend for my son, who turned a decade old.

Hard to believe it's been ten years since that life-changing day when I became a father for the first time.

We've done so much, made so many memories, seen such tremendous changes, and yet the time seems to have flown by all too quickly.

Like it or not, birthdays wait for no one.

After my son announced that he didn't want a party with friends, we started planning a special weekend of festivities just for him. It included an afternoon on the lake, a viewing of Iron Man at the movie theater, and dinner at his favorite Italian restaurant.

That was just the first day.

The next day we made a special trip to Cat Tales Zoological Park to visit the big cats. My son loves felines of all sizes, so this was a big thrill for him. The highlight of the tour was when he got to feed raw meat to a Bengal tigress named Ceylon.



The other highlight of the day for my son was when I announced that his allowance would be doubled. I could see the dollar signs sparkling in his eyes as he started adding up his future earnings.

It was a memorable 10th birthday celebration. At first, some weeks ago, I was surprised that he didn't want a big party. But then I remembered that I gave up on large multi-friend parties when I was 11 or 12. There comes a time when you just want to share your birthdays with loved ones and close friends.

My son is 10, and it's yet another strong reminder that the clock is ticking. I have such a short time to make memories with him.

This weekend I think we made some good ones.