Birthday Trolleys and Christmas Buses

 

Coleman doesn’t like birthdays.  At least not like most kids.  He doesn’t like presents at all, doesn’t like birthday cake, and definitely doesn’t like when everyone sings “Happy Birthday” to him.  But he does love when he gets to be with other kids, and because the rest of this family loves parties, we try to do something extra special and fun for his birthday each year for him.  This year, we rented a trolley and took a group of kids to a trampoline place, had a party there and then rode with everyone back on the trolley.  Without a doubt, the best part was the trolley ride.  The kids all had a great time, singing and dancing and laughing.  Coleman even tolerated the Happy Birthday song!  

The night was so much fun that we did it again at Christmas.  I connected with all of the parents in Coleman’s class and we all chipped in together and rented a big party bus and took all the kids to see the Christmas lights at La Sallette and Gillette Stadium.  We ordered pizzas for the bus ride and cupcakes sang Christmas songs the whole time.   There may have been adult beverages for the parents too.  It was a really wonderful evening, and I know we weren’t alone feeling blessed to have such a great group to do these things with.

At bed time that night I asked Coleman, “Did you have fun?  Did you like the Christmas music and lights?”  He bounced around the room repeating me “DID YOU HAVE FUN DID YOU LIKE THE CHRISTMAS MUSIC AND LIGHTS” and then looked me directly in the eyes, smiling and yelled "YES!”   

We talked about both the Birthday party and the Christmas party for weeks after they occurred.  Coleman would say things like “Remember we went on the bus for your birthday?” or “Remember we saw the Christmas Lights?” and when I answered yes, I remembered, he would immediately follow with “We can go again when?”  He loves and craves these social interactions, just like the rest of us.  And it got me thinking.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have a place that did events like this for kiddos like Coleman and his pals?  A place where kids like them could meet up and do things socially?  And I realized I’d been saying and thinking that for a very long time.  And maybe it was time to stop thinking and start acting.