Sept, 12th is actually his birthday, but because 9/11 is such an emotional day for everyone and cast a ‘low’ feeling on everyone, we decided to make this day a happy day.
I woke up at 4 am this morning with what felt like an allergic reaction. I had to take a couple Benedryl and fought the swollen roof and extreme itchyness. I could feel the under part of my tounge starting to swell and I was salivating WAY too much. The Benedryl kicked it’s butt…and then kicked mine.
Shaun stayed home and took care of me and got the kids to school.
At 5 pm we took Tyler’s friends to the bowling alley and had a blast. Even though I spent all day watching 9/11 coverage, when the kids were out there laughing and having so much fun…I embraced it more closely.
Sixteen was a big year for me and for Shaun. I remember mine like it was just yesterday and I really shouldn’t have been allowed to have THAT much fun. 90% of what I did was illegal in all 50 states. So if Tyler wanted to take his friends bowling and play lazer tag, I was more than willing to fork out the money for them all to be safe, with us & not out in the woods having a bonfire the size of a small forest fire, drinking Vodka and mudbogging through puddles as deep as most swimming pools. There were NO cops chasing a hundred of his closest friends out of the woods with the lights and sirens blaring. We certainly were not throwing bottles of booze out of the window just in case we got caught.
Nope, we had a nice, normal party at the bowling alley.
What did you all do on your 16th birthday? Would you let your kids do it?
41 responses to “Happy 16th Birthday, Tyler”
Happy birthday, Tyler!
I don’t have kids, so I probably shouldn’t comment, right? I’m such a dud. I went to school and worked on my birthday. If I had kids, I would say NO to the work part of it. ;-)
happy birthday, tyler! being 16 ROCKS! :)
I was on an airplane on my birthday. Our choir/band/orchestra was coming home from a trip to Florida (that’s why EVERYONE was in music in my school – this trip). We got home at 3 am and I remember being really really pissed and crying because I looked in the fridge and there was no birthday cake in there. My mom said later that it WAS there, I just didn’t see it ’cause I was tired (I had been up for at least 36 hours at that point). Also, in our town the DMV was only open on thursdays and my birthday (on a plane) was thursday, so I was pissed I had to wait a whole week to get my license. That’s pretty lame, but that’s about it.
Happy Birthday, Tyler!
I don’t wanna think about how a bowling ball would be making my wrists hurt. It’s nice to see strong young men hold their own.
I don’t remember what I did but I am sure it was bad and I probably got laid.
Tyler is a good kid. Happy Birthday!!
Now how the hell is it that we both have a 16 year old!! Fuck.
My 16th birthday….hmm.
My mom decided that I had had enough quiet little birthdays. You know, the kind with only relatives or when we were on vacation.
She planned a Sweet 16 sleepover, and invited 10 of my closest friends. Since I didn’t have 10 close friends, she allowed my 14 year old sister to invite a couple of her friends.
Most years, my birthday being in June, I asked for strawberry shortcake as my special treat. But no, this year, Mom was going to make her Pineapple Fluff cake, since there would be company.
Mom was upset with me that I hadn’t done a request for the day off from my summer babysitting job, and then I had to deliver my afternoon paper route.
She was planning a party I hadn’t asked for, yet I was supposed to rearrange my world to help.
Several girls showed up at the appointed hour.
We ate pizza and played Scrabble (my favorite board game).
I won.
I don’t remember what all else. I do know that I was the first to fall asleep, wrapped up in a blanket on the floor between the dining room table and the wall. One of the girls put whipped cream from the cake in my hair, and I slept right through it.
I gather that my sister and a few of the girls went out and t-papered a bush in a neighbor’s yard, and left pennies on the rails so that the 2:30am freight train would flatten the coins.
The rest of the summer was pretty routine.
When school started, during all the commiserating and catching up, I heard that one of the girls who was at the party told someone else that my mom and sister were more fun than I was, and it was my birthday we were supposed to be celebrating.
When my sons were little, we always asked the boys which restaurant they wanted to go out to eat. When they were teens, I always asked my sons what they wanted to do on their special days. Usually, it was the same, to go out to eat and invite a friend or two.
I can’t remember that any ever asked us to sponsor a big party, with theme and menu and such. I guess the non-interest in socializing is inherited.
Whenever they got invited to a party, I never made them go. If they did attend, I made sure their gift for giving was nice, and they seemed to do alright with it.
When oldest son was about 17, he was at a party and called for me to come get him. He said there was drinks and drugs, and he didn’t want to hang around until his friend (the driver) was ready to leave. It was winter, yet the kid was sitting on the curb when I pulled up.
Tyler’s bowling party, if that was his request, is Great!
(Sorry for commandeering your comments, but you did ask)
I’m worried. I can’t remember my 16th birthday.
I cried because there was a blizzard and my mom made me shovel. Our gravel driveway. On my 16th birthday.
No, I’m not bitter. Why do you ask?
my 16th was pretty lame as well. I had just gotten dumped by my first love, and was dating a ‘rebound’. We went to TGI Friday’s and he didn’t say one word the entire time. My family thought he was really strange. A few months earlier on my best friend’s birthday we went to the mall and she stole a T-shirt from a store and we both got caught by mall security. Good times.
I walked in a parade in 90 degree heat in a big furry mouse costume! I almost passed out!
Yeah, good times.
My parents had decided to take their annual vacation during the time of my 16th birthday. The best part – their present to me was that I didn’t have to go with them!
My older brother agreed to buy me and my friends some booze and I got drunk for the 1st time. The party turned into a big party / sleepover and in the morning I woke up to a big hole in the upstairs bathroom wall and my rabbit bleeding profuslely from a torn nail.
After a bloody (literally) trip to the vet and some wall putty later – I got away with my first party with the parents away!
I don’t have kids – so I can’t say whether or not I would want the same sort of thing for them. But, at least I was at home in a “safe” environment?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIDDO! I mean, YOUNG MAN. Er, whatever they want to be called.
I don’t remember what I did.
Ohhhhh Kristine if I only knew, You would still be grounded…. what was I doing at 16? I was married and pregnant with ur Sister.. Not much fun with this Ole Hide…
Well, considering that my birthday is on New Years Eve (PARTY ON) I got my drivers license in the morning, drove all my girlfriends around in my moms Buick Regal…all day…. going nowhere in particular….just because I could, and got trashed at home that night. Mom bought me and my boyfried wine coolers (oh back in the day)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!!!!!
Oh and Happy Birthday Tyler…. Love Youxoxoxoxo
Happy Birthday buddy!!
On my 16th birthday, I donated time working for a charity helping nurse orphaned baby birds to health. Then I put on a puppet and magic show for the kids at the local homeless shelter.
Anyone buying it? Anyone? OK, fine……
Tyler, you’re the best son a dad could ask for. You could probably walk your dog a little more and steal my shirts a little less. And if those are my biggest issues, you’re in good shape. You’ve got an incredible life ahead of you, and I can’t wait to watch it. I love you very much.
Dad
Oh, and that was comment #16 on his 16th birthday. 16th, bitches!
Shaun, you’re such a dork. I posted that in Tyler’s MySpace as you, for him.
I stayed up late into the night working on a writing project for school, by candle light since my power had been turned off and I couldn’t get it back on until Monday, in the tiny 2 room basement apartment where I was living on my own.
I remember it as a pleasant time. (not sarcastic)
Happy B-day Tyler–that’s an awesome way to spend your 16th–I think mine was pretty low-key–we had just moved and MOm took me shopping, and I had a friend or 2 over for dinner…nothing special–a nice cake though!
I rented a bounce house. I had like 20 something teens there and we nearly popped it. It kept colapsing, but it was great. Id do it again!
Happy Birthday Tyler!!
Gah, I can’t even remember what I did on mine. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Happy birthday to Tyler and happy birthing day to you!!! You did a lot of work back then too, you know! All Tyler did was get born! ;)
I was so innocent at 16…we had a birthday party at my house that resulted in a water balloon/hose fight. Very innocent…I hope my girls are as naive as I was at 16.
Tyler asked to have girls over and have a water balloon/hose fight.
Hey I was at your 16th birthday! Yes illegal in ALL 50 states and most other countrys in the world, but it was fun! I am glad that your step son takes the safe route! Good for Shaun for raising him to be so responsible! and Great for you for supporting it! I am just so joyous when my daughter turns 16 in 5 months. NOT! We will just have a bbq at some random beach! Wanna come take pics? ;)
My 16th birthday was June 17, 1993
It was interrupted by the news coverage of OJ Simpson fleeing from the cops and being chased down the LA freeway. I don’t remember anything else because all I remember is everyone being around the TV watching the news.
Zero recollection of my 16th
Happy Birthday Tyler ;)
Happy Birthday Tyler!
I remember my sixteenth-we had fondue.
Shaun..
That is the SWEETEST DAMN THING.
Ya’ll are the bestesteset.
Seriously? Me, Chris and Tina were the only wild childs?
FONDUE? WORKING?
Kept Woman: I’m Tyler’s step-mom so I didn’t give birth to him, but the last 3 years sure have felt like it!! LOL
Happy birthday to Tyler! Sept. 12th is my & my brother’s birthday too! I hope he has a great one!
i don’t remember mine.
Happy Birthday Tyler, my 16th was very similar a few close mates and a bbq with lots of loud music.
Have fun Tyler :)
Happy Birthday Tyler, shit I dont remember what I did, I do know that I got my tongue pierced on my 18th birthday and made my mom cook all soft foods, Mashed potatoes, apple sauce, soup, etc. It was a very interesting birthday!
Perhaps, I need to move to California and become a wild child before my 40th birthday, which will be next June. ;-)
Okay, so I can’t remember my 16th birthday which leads me to believe I was drinking and possibly smoking heavily. Also, when I turned 16 my older sister was in college in Boston, so my best friend and I went up to the city and were debauched. I do remember a shot called Three Wise Men: Johnnie Walker, Jim Beam and Jack Daniels. Is there any wonder I don’t remember that night?
Second: mudbogging? Why is it that everyone here is all mudbogging, oh sure, yeah mudbogging. I’m not ashamed to ask: what exactly is mudbogging?
okay now, where’s the new SPF-assignment? it’s wednesday 5:20 pm in germany. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN UP BY NOW. sorry about the yelling, it’s just that, you know, i NEED IT! :)
I was too much of a goody two shoes (because my parents kept JUST enough watch over me without overdoing it), so I can barely remember my 16th. I think it WAS four male friends coming over (and yes they were attractive and charming!), but instead of booze, they each brought me a bottle of Perrier. And identical greeting cards. Meant to be a joke, obviously :)
Happy Birthday Tyler ! I will let you know how our first 16 yr old goes in Nov. I at 16years & 6 months was getting married & 2 months before I turned 17 delivered that baby boy that will turn 16 in Nov. Yep thats true…been married half of my life to my true love.