We visited with some friends at the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin festival this year. The festival was OK, lots of pumpkin foods, drunken hillbillies, and a sad little parade. A raccoon ravaged my friend Austin’s garage, suggesting again that the raccoons of the world are out to ruin any fun that I may have. I say that knowing that I was not the one shooshing the raccoon during the middle of the night armed with nothing but a tiny flashlight. Way to fight the good fight, Austin and KC! Malcolm enjoyed a never-ending supply of sweets, so he thought the weekend was a smashing success.
The one real noteworthy thing that transpired over the weekend was Malcolm and his 2.5 year old friend Henry slept in the same room. For most of you, sleeping the in same room as someone else isn’t that big of an accomplishment. That’s what prison teaches us, eh? Henry, however, had not, so this was his first foray into cohabitation with someone other than his parents, and Malcolm played the role of the experienced older gentleman. So, here it all is from friday and saturday nights:
The Good
Malcolm and Henry stayed in their room after it was their bed time. This allowed us to socialize with Henry’s parents, who we like talking to and drinking wine with (although not necessarily in that order.) It laid a good foundation for the next step, a sleepover at either their house or ours. The sleepover is perhaps the greatest invention in the history of parenting an only child: you get to leave your kid at someone else’s house and go out and enjoy yourselves, and then sleep in without having to pay for it! The boys did not hurt themselves or the furniture, and even slept in til 7 am both days.
The Bad
The boys did not go to sleep quietly. They stayed up until 10:30 or 11 each night, and were quite excited by having a little buddy to sleep play with. They screamed, the squealed, they wrestled. The second night, we all took turns going in the room and threatening them until they finally fell asleep. Saturday night, the boys refused to go to sleep after it came to light that one of their stuffed animals had lost an eye. Quite the animal enthusiasts, those two. All told, the boys lost 5 hours of sleep over the weekend, and it showed.
The Ugly
To say that Malcolm was a train wreck on sunday morning is putting it lightly. I would classify Malcolm on Sunday morning as a train running to a jumbo jet, and then crashing into a nuclear submarine, causing it the whole thing to explode. He whined all morning long, and when we loaded him in the car to go to breakfast, he began biting, scratching and hitting anything he could get his hands on. He threw our camera around the car like it was a football. He was like a caged raccon! His tantrum extended to the return home (we did not stop for breakfast out of fear that he would have torn the restaurant apart, and that is saying something, because we were going to a biker bar!) At home, he ripped every piece of clothing out of his drawers and even snapped a rubber band on Amy’s face. He was in pretty rare form.
In the end, I am glad we did it, as the next time we get the boys together it should be easier. With the weekend safely under our belt, we can expect a lifetime of boys happily sleeping together, enjoying our friends, and drinking wine, although not in that order.
Tags: parenting
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LOVE the sleepover. If it weren’t for the mouthbreathing, swine flu-ish hubby and the blasted raccoon terrorizing the dog, I would have been able to enjoy the 2 fabulous mornings lying in bed past 7am! Instead I just slept hard and drooled. Married with children in the country…
That photo looks like it’s from “Zero de conduite”.
I gotta give props to the mouth breather though. He repelled the raccoon attack!
Not sure what Zero de Conduite is, but I don’t like the sound of it. French electrical manual?
[...] Matt: That photo looks like it’s from “Zero de conduite”. [...]