Lots of Play Dates!

I've found that the children are lots easier when they have other kids to interact with. I invited some friends over that are Hunter's age on Monday. As an added bonus their siblings came along, so Ethan and Elle had playmates too.

So, in all we had four friends over making a total of 7 children. It sounds worse than it was. I would get out a game or two and have them participate in something structured between their normal random play. They would keep each other entertained and I really had very little to do other than supervise.

We played a round of color/shape bingo and then I got the tangrams out for them to play with. It was a hit, but with short attention spans, I knew they were done when the pieces started being used as projectiles.

I put on the Standin' Tall tape for Honesty and printed out coloring pages, but only Hunter and the girls participated.

Then I took them all to the park with the sand toys. Unfortunately there weren't enough shovels to go around, so those without found other ways to keep themselves busy. I had no idea Hunter was so agile.

Snack time turned into lunch accompanied by a full fit by Hunter because I wasn't putting food in front of him fast enough. He went into the living room sprawled out on the floor and screamed , "I CAN'T EAT!!" It was a self fulfilling prophecy, since he was too busy with his temper tantrum, I just gave the next ready tortilla to whoever was waiting. He finally wised up and came in...I think the fit was more an expression of over tired than actually being upset about the food. As it turned out, everybody crashed for the afternoon. That was great for me 'cause nowadays I really do need a nap come afternoon.

Today we had friends over for Elle. Two of her little girl friends, Emma and Jaime. The boys weren't as excited to have them over because I kept emphasizing how they needed to play gently. We got all the Barbie stuff out and the kitchen play food and pans. It was all very girly!

All three of the girls are the youngest in their families, though Elle not for long. Jaime's oldest sister just graduated high school and Emma's oldest brother is already in Middle school. So, they're used to much older kids.

Actually, when Elle went over to Emma's house when I had a prenatal visit she was SOOO excited....right up to the point when Emma's oldest brother answered the door. Elle burst into tears and didn't want to stay after all. Fortunately, Mindi (Emma's mom) was very understanding and made sure Elle had a good time.