Monday, July 09, 2007

Family Reunion/Barbecue/Awfulness

So we had this family thing yesterday. And it was whack, yo. A cousin of mine was in town and another cousin hosted a BBQ so all family in the area (most of us are in the area) could see him. Never mind the fact that I'm not really close to this cousin or any of my cousins for that matter. But you know, whatever.

Whenever we have to go anywhere that we've never been before I always give myself a pep talk. Actually Peter and I give each other a pep talk. It goes something like this...

“Okay. The next two hours are pretty much going to suck. We'll take turns constantly following Monkey A around trying to keep her from:

a) Breaking anything
b) Climbing everything
c)Hurting herself (badly)

We can do this! Go Team!”

And I can honestly say we rarely worry for nothing. And today was no exception. Some of the highlights of the afternoon/evening:

-Trying to keep A from getting hit by some sort of golf ball sling shot type contraption that was part of a game akin to 'Horseshoes'.

-Trying to keep A from climbing in to the pond as though it was a pool.

-Trying to keep A from escaping out of the yard when the fence was left open.

-Worrying about A falling down a few cement stairs that she was fascinated with climbing repeatedly.

-Trying to get A to eat when there were SO many cooler things she could be doing mom, sheesh.

I think you get the idea. The worst part is that everyone tries to convince me that she is just an average normal (almost) 2 year old. Come on people! What kind of a moron do you think I am? I wasn't born yesterday. I've been around 2 year olds plenty. I happen to know for a fact that my kid is way more psycho than most. She does things that most kids don't even think of. She is constantly finding new ways to get into trouble. And... she. never. stops. So quit trying to tell me it's her age, she's fine, don't worry about it... I don't see YOU running around after her. That's my job.

I don't mean to complain. I love my A. I do. She's sweet, her personality is out of this world and she is going to grow up to be the most incredible woman. But man, does she tire a person out. We always leave that sort of function feeling totally drained and usually a bit depressed. We often vow to never agree to attend something like that again with Miss A in tow. But we never seem to stick to the rules we make up for ourselves.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ha ha... more psycho than most. :)

I for one think A is the sweetest thing around! And I think that "she does things most 2 year olds wouldn't think of trying" just shows that she is way smarter than the average 2 year old!

For some reason having you describe her makes me think she may be just taking after her mom. Inquisitive, active, fearless ..and maybe a wee bit stubborn. All fantastic qualities!!! So I wouldn't worry about her, she's going to turn out great!

How to keep your own self sane is another thing altogether though! Ethan already drives me nuts by not being able to stay still, and he's not even crawling yet! So if you figure out how to best survive an outing, please share the info, because I think I may have one just like A.

Mall Worker said...

I haven't seen Baby A in action in a while so I'm not sure what she's up to. She sounds like my little guy when we take him places. Always going for what he's not supposed to be getting into, and playing on the danger things.

bon said...

So far, two out of three of my girls have been of the "more insane than most" ilk. Some small bits of wisdom I have collected.

Feed the kid before you go. They WILL. NOT. EAT. at these things, and they get cranky when they are hungry. This way they may go straight to "snacking on the treats" mode and you feel no guilt or stress about it.

Make sure to take the edge off your OWN hunger before you attend these things, or at the very least you and Peter must eat in shifts.

Use the kid as your early "out." Crazy kiddos are the perfect excuse for excusing yourselves early.... you have done your social duty, and now you can go home and actually enjoy what is left of the evening. After you put the kid to bed. If you do this, you can spend time with just the folks you really want to talk to and NOT with the folks you don't and NOT FEEL GUILTY! Shrug your shoulders and roll your eyes a lot. You are doing the best you can, you have a crazy-energetic kid after all! Good bye!

Sugarmama said...

Yes, I know this feeling well. My first daughter was (and still is) perfectly content hanging out on the floor playing with a tea set or stuffed animals or rocks, fer chrissakes, for a LONG time. My second is a monkey.

I had to listen to this clueless playgroup mom one day talk about how different her son was from all the little girls in our playgroup, how much more active he is because "boys are just different," blah blah blah. Boys may very well be different, but my littlest girl is most definitley up there in the ranks of the super-active psycho you describe! KIDS are just different.