ADD TEN

A son recently turned 25 years old.

One of his sisters is only a week short of being 10 years older.

I always know my kid's birthdays because they are all even numbers that have some significance to other dates or family events.

Soon my daughter will be 35 -
I know because I only have to add 10.

No matter how it's done, I think adding 10 is the easiest of math -
it's just
a 1 and a 0 - easypeasy!

Wouldn't we all like to add another 0 onto our bank balance, get 10 more miles per gallon on every tank of gas or earn 10% interest?

I always wanted at least 12 kids.

When child number 3 arrived she was the first of the 10 I wanted to add (alas, that didn't materialize).

Having one child took all my time.  Having two children took twice as much time. Oddly enough, having 3 children took only half as much time and seemed to be twice as much fun.

Her nickname was 'Cookie Monster' - she loved crackers and cookies. One night quite late (after recently moving into an older home we purchased and were renovating) I heard a fairly loud rustling sound in the kitchen.  I was worried the evicted mice had returned - but the rustling seemed rather loud and out of place for mice.  Investigation revealed her [age 2] sitting on the floor, in the dark, with a newly opened box of saltines.  She had several packages open and was working her way through them -  not breaking them - simply methodically eating them.  (Back then the waxed paper package merely folded around the crackers - in much the same way as butter quarters are wrapped now.)

A blue, furry 'cookie monster' often went where ever she did - Cookie ... and Babba. Babba was a Fisher Price, yellow, cloth bodied, meant-to-be-machine-washed-and-loved, doll  (yellow was her favorite color - I swear she was born loving yellow) with an angelic face similar in sweetness to the face of the girl that owned her.  Babba seldom left her owner's side and lives on at her house to this day.

This child has a special place in our family because she gives light and love - she adds 10 - exponentially! My mother delighted in her burbling laugh; it puts Elmo to shame. Her curiosity and keen intellect even now are a constant source of pleasure.  She was trying to read at age 3 and succeeding shortly thereafter.

Age 4

She is also a decent musician - on multiple instruments. With practice she could excel, on any or many of them, but her personality was always of the easy going sort and her interests too broad to be confined to repetitive and endless practicing.

I miss all my kids now they are adults - but especially this one.

Happy Birthday Cookie Monster!