My youngest son, Huck, was born on Labor Day Weekend. Today we celebrated his eighth birthday by taking him and nine other boys to play Laser Tag. It was, by my boys’ account, a great party: a bunch of boys running around in the dark and shooting each other with lasers (really just fancy flashlights). Then there was cake, made to look like a skateboard (same kind I made Tom for his birthday last May). By my account, the party was fun but loud. After the party, we returned home and cooked a big dinner with all of Huck’s grandparents, who came by to celebrate with us. All in all, it was a good day. Now (10:15pm Sunday) the dishes are washed, Tom and Huck are in bed, and I am ready to fall asleep. I’m even too tired to read.
Huck, I love your quick wit and genuine smile. I appreciate how much you love and care for animals, especially birds. And I even love to hear you play the drums — every day. I love to hear you read aloud — I’m going to try to remember the sound of your little boy voice long after it morphs into its grown-man sound. You’re stubborn sometimes, and don’t often allow others’ opinions to sway yours, but I like to think it means you will have an excellent B.S. detector when you grow up — a good asset. Happy 8th Birthday! We love you!
In bookish news, I’m finishing the test shelves and packing boxes for the Santa Monica Book Fair. I’ll be back with a post and photos of that process tomorrow.
Book Hunter's Holiday 
A few weeks ago you mentioned that Huck was going into grade 2. Grade 2 is uually for 7 years olds.
Did he miss the cut of date?
When is your cut of date?
Is he the oldest in the class?
Here in Canada kids start school in September if they turn the required age anytime during the year between January and December. So if they turn 6 on December the 31st, they get to start school in junior kindergarten in September at age 3 and a half.
I know one girl in my neighbouhood who was born on December 31st. She is only 5 months older than my son, but is a whole year ahead of him in school. Tomorrow she goes into grade 2 even through she is still only 6 years old. My son is also 6 and tomorrow he starts grade 1.
Huck is in grade 2. The cut-off date for kindergarten at our school when he started there was September 1. This means you have to be five by Sept. 1. His actual birthday is shortly after that, so he just missed the cutoff. Though we could have insisted he start kindergarten at age 5 since he was so close to the cutoff date, we decided to wait and have Huck start kindergarten when he was just turning six. Waiting an extra year has become a rather common trend with boys where we live — starting them in school a year later if their birthdays are after, say, July 1 or so. Girls, who are generally regarded as more socially mature, often do not wait. There are, of course, exceptions to these generalizations.
I can only speak for my family, but in our case, it was best for Huck and for us to wait until he was a bit older. Instead of being one of the youngest and smallest boys by almost one year, he is now one of the oldest and biggest. We felt this was good for him, because he is already the youngest at home and on our street, which has about 10 kids with whom he plays. Being one of the oldest at school helps give him a different perspective than what he experiences at home. He has more opportunity to make his own decisions and to be a leader where he is the oldest — at school. As with most parenting choices, we have little actual idea whether our decision to wait will help or hurt Huck in the long run. So far, though, we think it’s been a good decision.
Best of luck with your son starting Grade 1 tomorrow! That’s a very magical and exciting year.
Hi Chris, A beautiful message to “Huck.” As always, he looks so much older and taller. Seems like forever since I’ve seen him. Glad the birthday was fun. Cathy