So, this picture is an utter fail. I took it after the mayhem was over and it's just funny to me because I can hear the relative silence and stillness in the pic. The real money shot would have been a pic of the 15 babies and toddlers climbing over each other trying to get all the toys I had laid out.
So yesterday I agreed to host my play group for a special holiday kick off party. I've hosted regular play groups before and it's usually like 5 moms and 5 kids. Very manageable. But this was going to be 15 moms and 15 kids. Didn't sound that bad to me. John and I host people all the time. And yet I think I severely underestimated what 15 kids would be like. Because our kids are no longer 3 month olds that just lay on a blanket. No. We had a range of 7 month to 16 month olds. And mixing crawlers and walkers with my slightly baby-proofed house was hysterical. It was so loud and hectic and CROWDED. I foolishly made a lovely champagne punch, as well as a bunch of brownies, cookies, and snacks. What I didn't realize is that, unlike an adult party, these women would not have time to mingle and sip on punch. No, they'd be intensely focused on following their kid around the house and making sure they didn't destroy anything.
Jack was quite interesting to watch through all of this. At first when the kids started trickling in he was into it. Petting his favorite friend and climbing all over his music table with a couple of other kids. Then the doorbell kept ringing and I had to leave him time and time again in the middle of our rug to greet people. More babies surrounded him and started playing with all of his toys and then, Bam, he hit his limit and started crying. Poor kid. Probably couldn't figure out why in the heck so many crazy people were in his house. So he either hung out in my arms and watched the madness, or retreated to a quiet corner with only a few kids and showed them how he could push the chair back and forth. Then when the crowd thinned out, he got back in the main mix because he could handle the smaller numbers. Then when everyone left, he went wild on the rug, crawling back and forth. (See photo above). It was all his again!
So everyone left and my house remains intact. I only found one smashed up cookie on the floor, one very sticky apple juice spot on the tile, and 1 leftover sippy cup. Not bad at all. Looking forward to doing it again.
So yesterday I agreed to host my play group for a special holiday kick off party. I've hosted regular play groups before and it's usually like 5 moms and 5 kids. Very manageable. But this was going to be 15 moms and 15 kids. Didn't sound that bad to me. John and I host people all the time. And yet I think I severely underestimated what 15 kids would be like. Because our kids are no longer 3 month olds that just lay on a blanket. No. We had a range of 7 month to 16 month olds. And mixing crawlers and walkers with my slightly baby-proofed house was hysterical. It was so loud and hectic and CROWDED. I foolishly made a lovely champagne punch, as well as a bunch of brownies, cookies, and snacks. What I didn't realize is that, unlike an adult party, these women would not have time to mingle and sip on punch. No, they'd be intensely focused on following their kid around the house and making sure they didn't destroy anything.
Jack was quite interesting to watch through all of this. At first when the kids started trickling in he was into it. Petting his favorite friend and climbing all over his music table with a couple of other kids. Then the doorbell kept ringing and I had to leave him time and time again in the middle of our rug to greet people. More babies surrounded him and started playing with all of his toys and then, Bam, he hit his limit and started crying. Poor kid. Probably couldn't figure out why in the heck so many crazy people were in his house. So he either hung out in my arms and watched the madness, or retreated to a quiet corner with only a few kids and showed them how he could push the chair back and forth. Then when the crowd thinned out, he got back in the main mix because he could handle the smaller numbers. Then when everyone left, he went wild on the rug, crawling back and forth. (See photo above). It was all his again!
So everyone left and my house remains intact. I only found one smashed up cookie on the floor, one very sticky apple juice spot on the tile, and 1 leftover sippy cup. Not bad at all. Looking forward to doing it again.
Wow. That is impressive, Lisa. I'm also impressed that there wasn't any serious damage done (we host tea for college-age kids and there are more spills, etc. than that), so you must have a good group! It seriously makes me wish we could do playgroups with you.
ReplyDeleteWow, very good, minimal damage! Sounds like a great event, except maybe those wouldn't be Jack's words lol
ReplyDeleteAnd look how tidy your floor is, wow, mine is ten times worse than that with just 3 kids by the end of the day!!
looking forward to doing it again?! you are a born hostess! the whole thing sounds so cute, and you're going to have to take a few minutes to take pics next time. :)
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