From the author: This note is a “mood composition”, it is about us and our children. We celebrated the seventh birthday of our youngest, spoiled boy, with our family, on vacation, far from home. Water park, animators, cafe, cake, candles, balloons, laughter, joy. But, having arrived home, the child announced that it was time to celebrate his birthday... “Eh...didn’t we celebrate?” - “Without friends it’s inconceivable,” he said, as if he were curt. And there was a second holiday, which, thank God, “counted.” This year, in order not to fall into the trap of the little king, we immediately discussed that we would celebrate the birthday at home when we arrived. And now it came to preparing the event. This time the company was planned to be purely male, small, but sung. I decided to consult with the participants in advance on how best to do it: whether to invite animators or do something ourselves. To be honest, I was somehow not really in the moral mood to get involved in all this, but I asked myself! Luntik, Smeshariki, Fixies, Ninja Turtles, Spider-Man, pirates, clowns, Batman; water parks, swimming pools, trampolines, recreation centers, children's entertainment centers, amusement parks, pizzerias, God grant everyone health and prosperity. But all this has already happened... The children ordered “at home, with competitions, like last time.” Exactly according to E. Erikson, 6-11 years old is the time for acquiring such socialization skills as cooperation, interdependence, a healthy sense of competition. Sometimes I did (full of holidays) something simple, with penny cardboard medals signed with my firm hand, with multi-colored plastic stars bought at a “fixed price” and other “treasures” that, it turns out, are still kept in treasured boxes. When discussing competitions, I handed my friends a sheet of paper and asked them to write down which ones they wanted to organize. Got answers. I figured out who was good at what so I could hang the medals approximately equally. I built it all into some kind of structure, selected an audio series, bought balloons, prizes, medals and other tinsel. I noticed that everyone was on bicycles. It was decided to first have fun at home (a house on the ground, a cozy courtyard), and then go for a bike ride to the “dry” fountain and playgrounds of our small town. In the evening, return to the cake with tea... And it turned out well! Despite the fact that some competitions invented by the children themselves were openly sabotaged, I did not bend the situation and “followed them.” Well, sometimes you just need to blow into the pipes, play football (the courtyard, the courtyard!), eat kebab and potatoes, drink a milkshake and go crazy without deep meanings or cause-and-effect relationships. Riding our bikes to the fountains, we chatted about life: and about what jurisprudence is (a question from one eight-year-old guest), and about the fact that “Kolya fell in love with Sofia - Nooo! I didn't fall in love! Well, okay, I fell in love, I fell in love...”, and about where the deceased father of one of the boys is now, and about how cool it is to ride with friends around your favorite city... We ran between the jets, basked in the sun, looked at the sky through the sun-pierced rays and leaves blown by the breeze... We refreshed ourselves with pizza, chips, crackers, lemonade, water (oh, how harmful all this is!). “No, this is not a bicycle rental,” I answered to interested passers-by... The way home through the light of the evening city lanterns, the end of the holiday. “Twister” with all its might. Confident refusals to offers from parents who came to pick up their children to return home. Gratitude from the little guests. The next day, photo and video reports from me and, in return, gratitude from the parents and even the idea of ​​inviting me as an animator. But no, I’m “here you have this, not that.” I thought about the fact that children who have everything materially, children who have one problem - the problem of choice - a huge number of offered entertainment, hobbies, learning - We were so happy to have a simple pastime and spontaneous communication. And not a single gadget for the whole day! (Except mine.) What is this? The magic of real contact?.....Recently I read the phrase: “If you want to grow…