besides the obvious benefits of a beach vacation {sun, sand, boardwalk food} we also had the opportunity to experience the way five different babies and moms make it from sun up to sun down every day. lets be honest the most valuable experiences shared were those that pertained to the witching hours after sun down. every single baby in that house woke up every. single. night.
we were all exhausted and tired and exhausted. it is one thing to deal with a crying baby in the middle of the night when you are at home. it is an whole different beast when you are in a house full of others that are currently catching some much needed zzz's. i tell you, those kids must have had a baton they were passing along. or a spirt stick of some sort. when one finally went to sleep, another took over with a cry that said "i am refusing to sleep in a strange house where there are other kids that i could be playing with right now, can i have more funnel cake and ice cream, i want to go to the beach and play in the water..."
we all had hard nights. and hard days. the greatest part was how we all dealt with it. i had copious amounts of coffee and dr. pepper to start with. but in a more serious way it was great exposure to see how they all dealt with the difficulty. it would have been so easy for us to all throw our hands up in the air and call the game. the reality was, despite the difficulty we managed to laugh. a lot. it was great to see the dynamic of moms and kids. to take note of how they get their little one to calm down or stop bad behavior. it was so nice to have someone be present and to see their ability to step in and calm nora (or other kids) down after a fit. that was when i realized, i may have become so invested in what i determined my parenting style would be that i began overlooking some simple solutions to problems that were annoying me like a pebble in my shoe.
the stairs. oh my gosh, the stairs. i seriously freak out over nora going down stairs and slipping and falling. so much so that i tend to just carry her down so that she doesn't fall. insert the cycle of nora never learning how to go down the stairs. we have practiced every method known to man and i deemed her too stubborn to learn to use the railing. she wanted to go down free-for-all style.
this house had stairs and no baby gate. and there was one amazing momma that spent an hour working with nora on those stairs. teaching her to use the railing and not giving up when nora yanked her hand away from the railing. now my kiddo is a professional walker down the stairs.
patience.
and so that's what we did. we were mommies to all the babies. we fed and nurtured and played with all of the babies. mommies got to finish a cup of coffee while it was still hot and fresh out of the pot, not after it had been microwaved five times throughout the day. it was exhausting. but so refreshing at the same time.
i can't say i am eager to *vacation* with that many kids again, but i certainly came away from the experience with a new perspective on parenting. and a whole lot of patience for my little one.
and for the best part of it all- nora stinkin' loved the beach. sand and waves and sun and all.
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| loving her orange sorbet ice cream cone |
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| moms and babes |
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| all of the kiddies! |
it was a great trip. i learned so much about the other moms that i spend my days with as well as so much about nora. she is one smart and stubborn cookie. i love her.
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