A Birthday Fit For King Steven

Steven and his brownie a la mode

During fifth grade, Steven came to me and told me he'd like a cell phone, everyone in his class besides him already had one. I pressed him for names of at least 10 children out of the 24 with cell phones. After much digging, he came up with 3 names, but he's got a great sense of humor and he was laughing before he came up with all the names.

The next thing he wanted was an iPod. Again, one of those things that everyone had but him.

So I asked him if he could describe what an iPod was for and exactly what it did. I asked him if he could tell me what an mp3 file was. I asked him exactly what an iPod would do for him.

He did mention listening to music, but I pointed out he had two portable CD players. I told him to come back when he could describe all those things to me in a coherent fashion.

Sean, who already finished his dessert, keeps sticking his fist in Steven's face while he eats

I'm not opposed to iPod's. I've had one now for two years and I think it's great. When we travel distances in the car, I hook it up to the car stereo and the kids play with it constantly, fighting over who gets to choose the next song.

But as to how the music ever gets on the iPod, they're in the dark.

Steven never came back to me with the explanation I'd asked for. But as I was packing the old portable CD player I'd bought in Tokyo in late 1993, along with an audiobook on 16 CD's for Steven, it suddenly dawned on me that Steven really did need an iPod and didn't realize it.

He absolutely loves books on CD. He bought the last Harry Potter audiobook on 18 CD's with his own money for around $60.

Steven loves it when Sean does that. Not.

We travel with the player and all those CD's and the big charger when we could just preload the entire thing onto something the size of a credit card. If that had just dawned on me earlier he'd have had an iPod a while ago.

Long story short, Steven got an iPod Nano. I'm taking bets on whether or not he'll still have it a year from now, he's a bit, um, absent-minded sometimes. But he's also turning 12, seems old enough to learn to hang onto something valuable. We'll see...

Also a new golf bag. Then we went out to a nearby seafood restaurant for dinner and Steven had a fresh Maine lobster.

Not too bad for a 12-year old.

Happy Birthday Steven, and many, many more... We love you.

- Kathleen