birthday parties

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"It didn't work out with me an your mom But yo push come to shove You was conceived in love" - Will Smith (Just the Two of Us) bike ridingIf you had told me my night would go like this, being out bowled by not one, but two six year olds, I would have never believed you. But here I was, Bomani Armah, in the middle of a suburban MD bowling alley. 4 year-old birthday parties crescendo into "how old are you!!" to our right. Twenty-somethings on double dates try to alternatively look cool and cute as they bowl to our left. Olu Armah is hurling duck-pin balls at unsuspecting pins like Aung bending fire. The projectile ricochets off of the left bumper, then the right bumper, then lines itself up right down the middle. Dela, his twin brother and partner in crime, is giving vivid play by play of the 45 seconds it takes for this ball to creep down the lane. Dela has already finished his round, scoring a full 1 point more than his Dad. Now, can they do the impossible and take the top two positions of the night? A strike from Olu puts him in 1st place by a healthy margin (considering our scores looked like impressive math test scores, but miserable bowling rounds). The ball didn't exactly crash into the pins, more like scooted them over impolitely. But fall they did, and we all erupted like Tiger Woods winning the masters. The twenty-somethings flirting to our left, and the gang of pre-k's and their parents on our right, roared and hi-fived Olu. As the noise quieted, and Dela rushed to reset the game, his mother Eshe Armah hands me a drink. "You suck at this" she says through a laugh. "Yet someone how I'm still 11 points better than you!" I snicker back. Cheers. On to the next round. I am fortunate, because this is what single parenting looks like at least every other month for me. I've seen horrible fights over custody, child support, education, religion, and just residual animosity from failed relationships. Having bitter squabbles in court, and neutral child transfer locations assigned by a judge, was not the reality I had day dreamed about. It is a blessing to not have landed in one of those situations. Wish I could credit myself for that stroke of fortune but my failed marriage has proven I'm not that good at predicting relationships. Continue reading here http://notarapper.com/2013/01/14/single-parenting-raising-sons-with-my-ex/