Party Time
We went to a one-year-old’s birthday party today. “We” here refers to “me and the three kids.” Ellie had to work, though she did manage to escape long enough to enjoy some cake before returning to the grind. This meant I had to single-handedly load, unload, and haul all three children, which is a chore I hate, but at least I’m doing it enough that I should be getting pretty good at it.
This party started at 10am, which coincidentally happens to be the start of the twins’ naptime. My plan was to arrive at the party and indiscriminately set the twins in their carriers down in a corner so they could catch the rest they need to be their cheeriest. The other party guests had different ideas.
“What are you doing taking babies to a birthday party if you want them to sleep?” one asked.
“The authorities generally frown on me leaving them home alone,” I responded.
The twins stayed in their carriers for about 148 seconds, at which point some guests announced that they didn’t want to sleep, and started passing them around to make sure they stayed awake. I shrugged, figured I could wrest them away for a rest in a little while, and took advantage of the free childcare to watch Abbie perform one death-defying move after another.
This party was for the family’s third child, all of whom are under the age of five, which means their home was a literal toddler playground. They had numerous toddler toys scattered about their yard, like a ball pit, a toddler-sized plastic house, and several riding vehicles. Abbie had never seen any of these toys, giving her a chance to enjoy one novelty after another until she grew bored with all of them, which took about a half-hour. At that point she invented her fun by climbing their deck. She repeatedly scaled the two feet between the ground and the lowest gap in the deck railing, emerging between peoples’ legs and generally scaring the birthday cake out of them. The family’s father marveled at her climbing prowess/eagerness, saying that his two-and-a-half-year-old accomplished climber of a son doesn’t even do that. I regaled him with stories of Abbie climbing up the changing table by pulling out the middle drawer, or her climbing out of her crib at around age 19-months, and realized she’s still my demanding child.
I finally managed to set the twins down for a nap around 10:30. This was a half-hour later than usual, but they compensated by waking up at their normal time for a feeding. Several people missed them during their 30-minute nap, and were eager to help me feed. I gave a bottle and a baby to one grandmother, kept the others, and sat down to feed while yelling at Abbie to get off the deck. The grandmother told me a story about a friend of hers who was a nanny to twin babies whose mother decreed that when one baby is held, both babies must be held. I found this an odd demand since I insist that people only hold one baby at a time so that, much like catching a pop fly, they can use both hands; I’ve come too close to dropping the little squirmers while holding someone one-handed. I theorized that the mother did this to ensure that both babies enjoy the same experiences at the same time, though the twins may have just been two demanding babies who both insisted on being held as much as possible.
Speaking of demanding, Abbie was climbing up the deck and onto the top of the ironically named guard railing. With the twins fed, I knew it was time to leave. I recruited two guests to help me carry everyone, thanked the family for the wonderful time, and headed to my car. I had a tiring morning, but at least I knew everyone would take a good afternoon nap with Abbie wearing herself out climbing and the twins being sleep-deprived.
This party started at 10am, which coincidentally happens to be the start of the twins’ naptime. My plan was to arrive at the party and indiscriminately set the twins in their carriers down in a corner so they could catch the rest they need to be their cheeriest. The other party guests had different ideas.
“What are you doing taking babies to a birthday party if you want them to sleep?” one asked.
“The authorities generally frown on me leaving them home alone,” I responded.
The twins stayed in their carriers for about 148 seconds, at which point some guests announced that they didn’t want to sleep, and started passing them around to make sure they stayed awake. I shrugged, figured I could wrest them away for a rest in a little while, and took advantage of the free childcare to watch Abbie perform one death-defying move after another.
This party was for the family’s third child, all of whom are under the age of five, which means their home was a literal toddler playground. They had numerous toddler toys scattered about their yard, like a ball pit, a toddler-sized plastic house, and several riding vehicles. Abbie had never seen any of these toys, giving her a chance to enjoy one novelty after another until she grew bored with all of them, which took about a half-hour. At that point she invented her fun by climbing their deck. She repeatedly scaled the two feet between the ground and the lowest gap in the deck railing, emerging between peoples’ legs and generally scaring the birthday cake out of them. The family’s father marveled at her climbing prowess/eagerness, saying that his two-and-a-half-year-old accomplished climber of a son doesn’t even do that. I regaled him with stories of Abbie climbing up the changing table by pulling out the middle drawer, or her climbing out of her crib at around age 19-months, and realized she’s still my demanding child.
I finally managed to set the twins down for a nap around 10:30. This was a half-hour later than usual, but they compensated by waking up at their normal time for a feeding. Several people missed them during their 30-minute nap, and were eager to help me feed. I gave a bottle and a baby to one grandmother, kept the others, and sat down to feed while yelling at Abbie to get off the deck. The grandmother told me a story about a friend of hers who was a nanny to twin babies whose mother decreed that when one baby is held, both babies must be held. I found this an odd demand since I insist that people only hold one baby at a time so that, much like catching a pop fly, they can use both hands; I’ve come too close to dropping the little squirmers while holding someone one-handed. I theorized that the mother did this to ensure that both babies enjoy the same experiences at the same time, though the twins may have just been two demanding babies who both insisted on being held as much as possible.
Speaking of demanding, Abbie was climbing up the deck and onto the top of the ironically named guard railing. With the twins fed, I knew it was time to leave. I recruited two guests to help me carry everyone, thanked the family for the wonderful time, and headed to my car. I had a tiring morning, but at least I knew everyone would take a good afternoon nap with Abbie wearing herself out climbing and the twins being sleep-deprived.
posted by Matt at
11:20 PM
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