Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Confessions of an Isolated mother

I have never claimed to be super organized or have "it all together" when it comes to childrearing. To prove this, I am going to let you in on a secret, I don't take the twins many places. Especially not all four kids together, the thought scares me! However, sometimes I wonder if I am being overly dramatic and think maybe it is just my anxiety that stands between my kids and the front door.

One of these moments happened a few weekends ago when we attended a first birthday party for our friends, Lindsey and David's twins (B and G). Our entire family was invited, and since our youngest two are twins, there was no doubt in my mind that we would all go.

F and E are very mobile these days, climbing, running, opening and shutting doors and cabinets, you name it, they are exploring it. So the plan was for Brad to keep an eye on one and I would watch the other. Seems like a good plan, right? It wasn't that simple, however. F and E were all over the place! Being that they were in a new environment, kids and toys were all around, and there were lots of adults to give them attention, they might as well have been at Disney World.

From the very start, it was obvious my plan needed modifying because they were snaking their way through the crowd, admiring knick knacks, and attempting to make escapes through doors. So instead of being assigned a tot to watch, we kind of traded off depending on our position in the house. I ended up mostly following E around, he was the one that wanted to do laps around their downstairs.

F was fairly content staying in the main room playing with toys, so Brad camped out there with him. Meanwhile, the older two were being their usual rambunctious selves, they were totally disobeying the lecture they got on the car ride over about being calm, about how it was a party for babies, and to be respectful, etc...

From the moment we arrived, the big boys took off to the upstairs part of the house which was not included in my battle plan. They came down frequently to rummage through the food and kept bringing me cans of soda to open (I refused after the first one). I felt my energy draining quickly, I barely felt like I was at a social event, I spent the entire time following E from room to room, while he kept looking over his shoulder and laughing because he thought it was a game of chase. He completely ignored my attempts at getting him interested in a toy so that we could stay in one place for a moment.

Then came time for the cake. Lindsey did a great job planning this Elmo-themed party! Both babies had an Elmo smash cake on their high chair trays. About that time, E was trying to figure out a way to the backyard. I tried to pick him up, but all that lead to was kicking and crying, which would have been very distracting to the moment, so I took him outside.


Cute Elmo cakes!

I heard the familiar "Happy Birthday" song followed by clapping and laughs. Then I recognized the screaming and laughing of my older two boys. I scooped up E and ran into the house. B2 had this life-sized balloon of Elmo and was chasing B1 and a few other young kids around the house. I immediately rescued the mylar Elmo and turned my attention to Brad. I gave him the unmistakeable "it's time to go" look and proceeded to gather up shoes and supplies.


That is one BIG Elmo!!
Brad didn't follow me to the front door, so I went back to the party, that is when he told me he couldn't find F! I felt like he had pressed the code button and my adrenaline suddenly kicked in. Fearing the worst, I ran to the front yard where I heard a neighborhood dog barking. I looked around, no F in sight. After surveying the grounds, I ran back inside. Several adults had joined the search party. After what seemed like an hour, (probably only 5 minutes or less) everyone met in the foyer empty-handed. 


I was about to start hyperventilating when someone mentioned that someone was in the downstairs bathroom. We held our breath as she knocked on the door, no answer. She opened it and revealed a wide-eyed little boy who was in the dark and had unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper into the commode. He started giving us that pathetic whine when he wants us to feel sorry for him. I scooped him up and gave him a big hug!

Not related to this event, but an example of said look.


We finally got out the door with all four children accounted for, and headed home. That is when Brad revealed to me that not only had B2 caused great disruption while running around, he had also eaten Elmo's eyeball off of baby B's smash cake and licked the cake too! B2 is a huge cake fan, like his Mama, but I was mortified that he had taken it to that level!


 
Poor B, he had no idea what was about to happen.


 Miss G was not going to let that boy get her cake!

Fortunately, Lindsey and David are very understanding and forgiving people. They even gave me permission to post this confession and pictures. So lesson learned, I will just stay at home until I have another moment of temporary insanity and then perhaps have another confessional blog post.