on getting older

Parenting is not for the faint-hearted.
On his birthday, a rare day off to do nothing, Andy walked the neighborhood kids to school, navigating frozen sidewalks and falling downs. He scrubbed sick-kid mess from bathroom grout, folded laundry and called for a roof inspector to evaluate yet another leak.
He laughed about it all, shrugging off the invisible incline he'd been climbing, a true testament to his increduibly cheerful spirit, and to our luck in a having him around.
The boys and I did make him a birthday cake with bourbon glaze, so the day had some redeeming parts, just like getting older might too.