On Saturday, I went to two events, one with John, one without, BOTH with Sprite. The first party was a baby shower for a friend whose daughter is in Sprite's class, so she had a ready made playmate for the two hours we were there. The hosting home, while beautiful, was full of so many antiques (read costly) and knickknacks, I was keeping an eagle eye on every move my daughter made, especially the one where she sneezed a nice carpet cleaning reason onto the expensive looking Oriental rug. (I'm sure hope it was Scotch Guarded.) I was able to sit her down at the kids' table for a few minutes and she even managed to keep her cloth napkin in her lap while trying to spear those rascally red grapes with her fork, but I felt so on guard that something would go wrong or even go "Crack!" that I breathed a sigh of relief when we left.
The other party we went to was a dinner date with other families which was comprised of seven children under the age of six, two pre-teens who were extremely patient with the adoring looks the younger ones were giving them, and five couples who thought nothing wrong of standing around a kitchen island trading stories, cooking stir fry, and most likely having a better time than the kids. I knew the atmosphere of the evening would be worlds away from that afternoon when the door opened and we looked upon hundreds of pieces of Legos, Tinker Toys, and Pick Up Sticks scattered around the foyer and dining room.
"The party's already started, watch your step!" our hostess smiled and we walked in to see kids darting back and forth between bites of turkey corndogs (so much tastier than beef) and mac'n'cheese to chasing after balloons with hockey sticks, to even pausing to catch a few moments of "Monsters Inc" before their attention was turned elsewhere. And throughout all the noise, oh, the noise!, we parents talked and laughed and sent a representative to check on the heathens kids once in a while, you know, to keep them on their toes. I was relaxed, I was having a great time, I took a cue from the hosting couple's attitudes that when you live with children, sometimes you just have to accept that things will may get broken, noses will bleed when tripping while chasing your brother or friend in an impromtu game of Tag!, and messes will be made.
The alcohol helped too.
Don't ask me what was in it. All I know is I asked for a drink that did not taste like booze and I ended up with three, they were that smooth. I felt the effects right away which meant John needed to end his drink count at 1 early in the evening. Downside? It turns out you CAN get a hangover from vodka. Upside? Drinks can spawn a sense of humor that wickedly detours from my usual brand of funny:
A tiny Buzz can usually end up with a tiny Woody. (Terrible, I know, but it cracked me the hell up when I took the picture.)
So it turns out that something DID end up broken during our stay, but the kids were fine, the broken pieces were dealt with quickly and without injury, the homeowners handled it with an ease I will aspire to emulate remember the next time Sprite and the word "Crash!" are anywhere near each other, and we were still able to move on with our night, not ending the party just because a vase decided it was time. Best parents' night out ever.
An open letter to all competition shows: Please stop with the "unfortunately, there can be only one winner" or "I wish I had a hundred prizes to hand out" tripe. One winner is what your shows are all about. You KNOW there is only one winner and the rest are not! Why must you roll out that same line over and over to make the judging seem more sincere or humane? I'm not buying it. Anyone else?
Something I've noticed of late: Sprite likes to circle around me whenever I'm standing almost anywhere. I'm sure other kids do this with their parents too, but it almost seems like I've got a built in gravitational pull and she's just DRAWN to me and must rotate. It became a little obtuse however when another child saw her doing this at daycare and, like a magnet, was sucked in and began the cycle as well leading me to believe I had created my own theory of relativity completely separate of the earth's axis. Hint noted. I'm back on the treadmill.
Related to the above, but not: (Huh?) While Sprite was ringing around her "Rosie" during the baby shower, she repeatedly banged her head against the sideboard's tabletop lip, which was right on target with her temple. While I reminded her every time that she was about to make impact with the MDF, I would hear the telltale thunk and subsequent "I hit my head" whimper as she came round. Thinking back, I really should have moved her away from the obstacle, huh? You know what they say about hindsight..
You know what else they say about hindsight? That I should have started this post by telling you to hightail it to Keely's The Un Mom and link up with the other people Randomizing their day. So go do that. And then get yourself a cup of coffee. Because you deserve it! And so do I. While you're up and all...
