Last weekend I decided to do something different and fun one Saturday night. It was spontaneous, led on by a situation that was out of my control but once thought of, I thought 'fantastic! This will be awesome!'
We had been out shopping in the morning and had such a lovely time with the success of my eldest doing a wee in his potty in a public toilet (potty training parents will realise how massive this is) and we had come home all happy and the kids were content. There were a few decent hours left of the afternoon and the weather outside looked quite nice, not too hot and not cold, so I decided to crack on with my latest DIY project- sanding and painting down the tops of my dining room table and chairs. I got my husband to sand down the furniture while I played with the boys and got them snacks, then once he had finished I started cracking on with the painting.
After a while I realised we wouldn't be able to sit on the furniture, so after a little discussion the husband and I felt it would be nice to sit and eat outside again like we had last weekend- a treat as for some reason we rarely do this. Crisis sorted- I carried on painting.
Then the rain drops started coming, ever so slowly, ever so faintly but they were coming. The wind started to pick up and the breeze was now sending a chill down my back. Maybe its best we don't eat outside, I thought.
By this point, the husband had started cooking the chilli con carne and rice. I told him about the change in weather and we came up with what we thought was this fantastic exciting idea for us- we'll get the picnic blanket, lay it down in the lounge and have an inside family picnic.
I was so excited. I hurriedly ran upstairs to the airing cupboard to fetch the picnic blanket. I brought it downstairs in its lovely wrapped up bundle, holding the handle. My youngest immediately went for it, he snatched it out of my hands and started wrestling it to the ground. It was now a toy. But, it was also a brilliant distraction while I could tidy up toys and help hubby cook dinner, so I left him to it.
Once my eldest Son had realised that we were having a picnic he went mental.
"No! put it back upstairs I do not want a picnic. I want a TABLE. There out there!"
He was now manically pointing towards both the outside furniture and the dining room set outside drying. I tried to explain how we couldn't and it was too cold/wet/paint still drying but he was having none of it. He was now wrestling his brother for the picnic blanket in his haste to take it away from us all. He failed. This is one of those occasions that it's good the 1 year old can successfully remain stronger than his 3 year old brother.
After 10 minutes or so my eldest was still going on about having a table, so I got the coffee table and placed it against the sofa- I said he could sit there and be boring while the rest of us sit on the blanket. I then had to take said blanket away from his brother. After a moments scream, he then calmed when he realised this unfolded on the floor and was what now seemed like a dance mat to him. So, again I left him to it to go and fetch the dinner.
Aaron brought my eldest's over and placed on the table. But to his horror- there was no pepper sliced and placed especially for him next to his rice and fish fingers (he refused the chilli) so without a moments hesitation and to our horror he grabbed his place and side swiped it off of the table sending the rice flying all over this perfectly laid out picnic blanket. I have never seen so much rice. He got a stern telling off from hubby and was sent without warning to the naughty step while my youngest frantically grasped at this rice shovelling it into his mouth and I tried to scrape together the dinner. Hubby went to cut the pepper he forgot to do in the first place, something I'm sure he regrets now.
After a minute or so my Son zoomed across the room for his potty. It was my chance to chat to him and calm him down, while trying to spoon feed my youngest rice as he was dancing around on even more rice. I told my eldest that maybe next time if he wasn't happy with it all then to just tell us rather then cause more mess. He was then delivered his pepper and he ate his whole meal, hurrah! I managed to spoon feed a fair amount with my youngest but he soon just thought this picnic was a hilarious way to make even more mess than he usually does.
Once hubby and I sat on the edge of the sofa, as we didn't fancy sitting on the rice I failed to pick up, we were then tormented by our youngest picking up rice or picking his food up or emptying the contents of his mouth onto our plates. Well this is fun....
My eldest had then realised that I didn't empty his potty, so instead of reminding me he decided to sort this out himself, so he marched over to the potty, picked it up, tripped and wee went flying everywhere.
The mess from it all took forever to clean. The tantrums and screams remained in my head as a constant dull ache for the rest of the evening and the memory is now solid in my family memory bank. Our first inside family picnic.
It's safe to say, and I think you'd agree it's for the best, I doubt there will be one for a while, if ever again.
Well, it wasn't.
We had been out shopping in the morning and had such a lovely time with the success of my eldest doing a wee in his potty in a public toilet (potty training parents will realise how massive this is) and we had come home all happy and the kids were content. There were a few decent hours left of the afternoon and the weather outside looked quite nice, not too hot and not cold, so I decided to crack on with my latest DIY project- sanding and painting down the tops of my dining room table and chairs. I got my husband to sand down the furniture while I played with the boys and got them snacks, then once he had finished I started cracking on with the painting.
After a while I realised we wouldn't be able to sit on the furniture, so after a little discussion the husband and I felt it would be nice to sit and eat outside again like we had last weekend- a treat as for some reason we rarely do this. Crisis sorted- I carried on painting.
Then the rain drops started coming, ever so slowly, ever so faintly but they were coming. The wind started to pick up and the breeze was now sending a chill down my back. Maybe its best we don't eat outside, I thought.
By this point, the husband had started cooking the chilli con carne and rice. I told him about the change in weather and we came up with what we thought was this fantastic exciting idea for us- we'll get the picnic blanket, lay it down in the lounge and have an inside family picnic.
It's the stuff you read about in Pinterest.
I was so excited. I hurriedly ran upstairs to the airing cupboard to fetch the picnic blanket. I brought it downstairs in its lovely wrapped up bundle, holding the handle. My youngest immediately went for it, he snatched it out of my hands and started wrestling it to the ground. It was now a toy. But, it was also a brilliant distraction while I could tidy up toys and help hubby cook dinner, so I left him to it.
Once my eldest Son had realised that we were having a picnic he went mental.
"No! put it back upstairs I do not want a picnic. I want a TABLE. There out there!"
He was now manically pointing towards both the outside furniture and the dining room set outside drying. I tried to explain how we couldn't and it was too cold/wet/paint still drying but he was having none of it. He was now wrestling his brother for the picnic blanket in his haste to take it away from us all. He failed. This is one of those occasions that it's good the 1 year old can successfully remain stronger than his 3 year old brother.
After 10 minutes or so my eldest was still going on about having a table, so I got the coffee table and placed it against the sofa- I said he could sit there and be boring while the rest of us sit on the blanket. I then had to take said blanket away from his brother. After a moments scream, he then calmed when he realised this unfolded on the floor and was what now seemed like a dance mat to him. So, again I left him to it to go and fetch the dinner.
Aaron brought my eldest's over and placed on the table. But to his horror- there was no pepper sliced and placed especially for him next to his rice and fish fingers (he refused the chilli) so without a moments hesitation and to our horror he grabbed his place and side swiped it off of the table sending the rice flying all over this perfectly laid out picnic blanket. I have never seen so much rice. He got a stern telling off from hubby and was sent without warning to the naughty step while my youngest frantically grasped at this rice shovelling it into his mouth and I tried to scrape together the dinner. Hubby went to cut the pepper he forgot to do in the first place, something I'm sure he regrets now.
After a minute or so my Son zoomed across the room for his potty. It was my chance to chat to him and calm him down, while trying to spoon feed my youngest rice as he was dancing around on even more rice. I told my eldest that maybe next time if he wasn't happy with it all then to just tell us rather then cause more mess. He was then delivered his pepper and he ate his whole meal, hurrah! I managed to spoon feed a fair amount with my youngest but he soon just thought this picnic was a hilarious way to make even more mess than he usually does.
Once hubby and I sat on the edge of the sofa, as we didn't fancy sitting on the rice I failed to pick up, we were then tormented by our youngest picking up rice or picking his food up or emptying the contents of his mouth onto our plates. Well this is fun....
My eldest had then realised that I didn't empty his potty, so instead of reminding me he decided to sort this out himself, so he marched over to the potty, picked it up, tripped and wee went flying everywhere.
All over the picnic blanket.
The mess from it all took forever to clean. The tantrums and screams remained in my head as a constant dull ache for the rest of the evening and the memory is now solid in my family memory bank. Our first inside family picnic.
It's safe to say, and I think you'd agree it's for the best, I doubt there will be one for a while, if ever again.
Comments