This weekend marked one of my brother-in-law’s 30th birthday. And to celebrate our family (sadly, minus the pugs) was invited to his surprise party. Well, it was supposed to be a surprise party but…it turned out that he had an inkling that it was going to happen. And it didn’t help that our blue Saturn Vue was parked only a couple of blocks away and he saw it as he was driving home. Oops.
It’s always a little stressful traveling with Eli. We have to get the timing down (leaving right after lunch but before he falls asleep for his afternoon nap). We have to remember to pack everything, but not over pack for a one night trip. [amazonify]B000WICGJ8::text::::Sippy cup[/amazonify]CHECK! Diapers, PJ’s and clothes, CHECK! Books and toys that Eli (and Momma) can’t live without, CHECK! Camera, CHECK (although we didn’t actually use it)! Running, sporty and high heeled shoes for Momma, CHECK! OK, I’ll uncheck that one, I guess I don’t really need that many shoes for one night.
But for this trip, we had an extra stress. Multiple kids in one small living room (the weather didn’t cooperate) all afternoon and into the evening. How would Eli react to these new tiny faces? Not just kids his own age, but crying babies as well. How would Momma react? Should we expect tears from both? Would Dad-oo stay for the whole party, or would he skip out early?
The part went off without a hitch (other than Nick already knowing about it). The kids (6 total, including 3 under the age of 5 months) were well behaved…for the most part. There were two small incidents involving Eli and a 2.5 year old boy who was definitely in the “I’m testing my limits” stage. This boy, let’s call him Joe, well he decided that it was his sole purpose in life to tackle Eli. And tackle him he did. Without any warning Joe came sprinting out of the kitchen and barreled into Eli, who was standing innocently in the door way. Now, this Joe has almost 1 year on Eli and about 3 inches (if not more), so it was a pretty fierce tackle. Eli of course handled it like a pro. There were a few tiny tears, more out of shock than being hurt. But he brushed it off, got a hug from Momma, an and went on his way. I was such a proud Momma!
The second incident was again from Joe. I don’t know all of the circumstances behind this one, since it happened in a corner by the dining room table and I couldn’t seen happened. All I know is what I was told by Joe, and he seemed to be telling me the truth. The two boys were in the corner playing, or so I thought. It was before dinner and I think both boys were getting a little hungry and a little crabby. Out of now where, Eli is crying, and Joe is sitting next to him, just kind of looking. I asked Joe what happened, and he motioned that he poked Eli on the head. Well, I don’t think that it was really a poke, I’m guessing that it was more of a hit or a punch. I know that all kids hit, Eli has been known to hit when he’s tired and hungry, so I wasn’t really upset about it. Eli was calming down and he didn’t have any bruises or welts, he was going to be fine But the thing that really bothered me, is that Joe refused to apologize. I told him that wasn’t a nice thing to do, and asked him to say sorry to Eli. At the first attempt, I got a blank stare. The second attempt, a blank stare. The third attempt, a blank stare. I finally gave up. He isn’t my child after all. But I was disappointed that his parents didn’t step in and take over. Each parent does have their own style, no one is perfect, and who and I to tell someone else how to raise their child?
But Eli did splendidly with all of the kids running around, the babies crying and a sugar rush from the ice cream cake. It’s always nice pat-on-the-back when you see your kid easily interacting with other kids, sharing (even if he did need a little guidance from Momma), and being able to quickly adapt to that chaotic environment. Must mean that we’re doing something right. Most of the time at least.
If anyone has photos of Eli from the party and wants to share, I’ll post them! Leave me a comment if you do.
Stay tuned, I have a great product review coming up. A must have for traveling with kids. [amazonify]B000068C97[/amazonify]
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It was great to have Eli (and you and Mike) at our party. He is an amazing little boy and very “adaptable” to the situation!