Where did the years go?

My nephew turns 18 today.

Ermagerd! How on earth do I have an 18-year-old nephew?!?

I feel so ooooooold …

Anyways, happy birthday nephew!

It seems like only yesterday that my nephew was three months old … and I was dressed up for a job interview to become editor of Woman’s Day … and made the mistake of offering to change his nappy … and scored a golden shower of the infant kind …

Cheers, mate!

(The main pic is me with him when he was a little tacker.)

When my sister asked how my nephew wanted to celebrate his 18th, it was a no brainer.

Teppanyaki with his family, of course!

We’ve been having family teppanyaki dinners for his birthday forever. What I love about the dinners is that everyone comes together to celebrate.

My sister’s ex and his second wife and toddler son will be there, her ex’s mum will come along too. My mum and dad will travel down to Sydney as well.

Everyone is welcomed with open arms. I think it’s wonderful that my nephew can have all his loved ones around the table and his parents being divorced doesn’t stop them sharing special family moments together.

How awesome is that?

It’s wonderful to be able to put love first and all the petty stuff waaaaaay second.

Here’s another example of how awesome it is:

That’s my sister’s second husband holding her first husband’s new bubba at the 15th birthday teppanyaki celebration. It was love at first sight for both of them and they’re still totally crazy about each other.

I also stumbled across some pics from my nephew’s 14th birthday celebration earlier this week, which always include unflattering shots of my useless attempts to catch fried egg in my mouth …

Hopeless.

Unlike my nephew, who caught everything like A BOSS.

Fortunately my offspring are waaaay more coordinated than me.

I noted after the 14th celebration: “The youngest’s eyes went all wide and glassy like she was on drugs when I told her we were going to teppanyaki. Teppanyaki is her nine-year-old version of drugs. She’s totally addicted.”

She’s equally excited to be gobbling teppanyaki again this week, but terrified she’ll be too sick to go – both my kids are in bed with terrible throat infections.

I’m looking forward to catching up with the extended clan. I have so much admiration for my sister and her ex and the way they’ve co-parented their son to adulthood.

I’m also incredibly proud of the man my nephew has become. He is such a thoughtful, fun, engaging bloke … who is incredibly relieved to have finished his HSC so he can relax and enjoy his milestone celebration.

Happy birthday!

Song of the day: Sugar Cubes “Birthday”