Birthday ideas for boys
Liam Neeson is turning 10 and he has a particular set of b'day requirements...
In just over two weeks, our youngest crib lizard clicks over to double digits. He’s four-and-a-bit years younger than our eldest and let me tell you, the age gap has never felt more chasmic. While our first-born gears up for his first job interview at Macca’s next week and regularly ‘dies of cringe’ if I drink my coffee too noisily, his baby brother still lives in Lil’ Boy Ville - population: 1. You’ll regularly find him dressed in his ghillie suit, camouflaged among the Lily Pillies playing Missing in Action or Under Siege on his own, or careening down our hill on a boogie board in the pouring rain. Last week I busted him with my bottle of Morning Fresh detergent soaping up the net-less trampoline so he could play Xtreme WWF. Our backyard looked like a foam party I once went to in Phuket back in the early 2000s. Good mems.
This loose cannon of a kid regularly asks questions like, “Who even are grandparents, though? Like, how did we find them and make them part of our family?”, reminding us of his delightful cluelessness innocence on the daily. But he’s also a wily character with Machiavellian manoeuvres, developed from years of having to keep up with an older, faster, stronger brother and cousins. He can stalk like a black panther. He can eavesdrop like a Home & Away protagonist. One minute you’re having a peaceful shower on your own, the next he’s standing where the towel hook is so your hand will unavoidably land atop a human head and FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CHILD, WHY MUST YOU MAKE MY AORTA PUMP TRIPLE SPEED?
And so, we’ve nicknamed him Liam Neeson, because just like the character made famous by the Taken action star, he has a very particular set of skills. He will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you….with zero personal space and 2384 questions/birthday suggestions per day.
Prezzie requests started in mid-March, with Liam nudging me to create a list in my notes app. Ok, Steve Jobs. We’ve also been discussing party ideas, because turning 10 in our family means you get a decent party. I told him party bags were out this year - IMO, being a decade old means you’re done with mini plastic triceratops and bubble wands - to which he replied, “Yeah, Mum. You’re right. To be honest, I can’t be effed either.”
I’VE CREATED A MONSTER. BUT ALSO, I LOVE HIM.
So, here’s Liam Neeson’s present list + how we’ll be celebrating the big 1-0. Perhaps you’ll find it helpful if you have kids to plan for ahead of end-of-year b’days and Christmas?