The Late Late Show (For Toddlers)

Almost every child, about thirty minutes before bedtime, will do the customary eye-rub to indicate that they are exhausted and ready for sleep.  The window of opportunity is small.  Some will choose to take it no matter what and others, well that’s me.  Let’s push our luck and have some fun!

On Friday evening, the Football Family had dinner with some friends at their gorgeous home.  They have the sweetest daughters who prepared for Babycakes’ arrival by “baby-proofing” their playroom and making her a sign to welcome her.  Babycakes, of course, can not read.  All the kids played and I got to participate in something called “adult conversation.”  Wow.  I’d forgotten how good it felt to talk about something other than nap schedules and teething. 

When dinner was served, Allie suggested that her daughters eat in the kitchen while we, the grown-ups & Babycakes, ate in the dining room.  Our darling daughter did not like this set-up and suddenly became combative. 

“All done.  All done.  All done, ” she chanted.

“Do you want to sit with the girls in the kitchen?”

With a big grin she nodded and made Curious George sounds… “Oh!  Uh-huh!  Uh-huh!” 

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that these friends have a cute & shaggy 40 pound doggie named Patty with whom Babycakes had a three hour love affair.  She hugged the doggie and the doggie would lick her.  They laid together in Patty’s bed and when it was time to leave at 10 pm., a heartbroken ‘Cakes cried ALL THE WAY HOME.  “Appy!  Appy!  Dowg!  Dowg!” 

My daughter says dog with the thickest Southern accent. 

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Last night was round 3 of our recruiting weekends.  Coach and his staff keep the parents and their sons busy all over campus, but on their last evening in town they come to our house for a social.  Ordinarily, I would clean the house and then spend the rest of the afternoon baking & preparing desserts.  I cleaned the house, but then…  the sun came out.  The birds were singing, the air was fresh, and the temperature soared to a pleasant 60 degrees.  With guests coming at 7:30 pm., we went outside to play. 

As Frank Sinatra once crooned, “Call me irresponsible…”  I didn’t let anyone down — when Coach came home, the house was sparkly, candles were lit, and an impressive display of desserts were ready to be served.  I’m pretty sure I got a “Wow.  Babe.”  AND I even had time to change my clothes and put on some makeup. 

Here’s my secret to serving THE BEST three layer raspberry cake.  Go buy it at Harris Teeter, put it on a pretty dish, pour yourself a glass of wine and relax.  Hey — like one of our recruit mama’s said last night “Why reinvent the wheel?” 

By the way, our daughter is turning into quite the little recruiter entertainer.  Like every event in her life, she was sure that everyone was there to see her.  Not wanting to disappoint her company, she danced to Captain & Tenille and made friends with Mrs. T.  Did she really want her to hold her or just get her closer to the creme puffs?  The jury’s still out. 

When the house was cleared at 9:15, the rest of her evening went like this:  jammies, binky, silky, music, ZZZZZZzzzzzzz. 

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Two late nights in a row and guess what?  It was totally worth it to abandon all rules and let her stay up late and sneak a sugary snack and watch her run and laugh and dance.  Time is fleeting — we have to enjoy every giggle, every dance move, every moment… 

And every parent last night can attest to that — their sons were just babies the other day, too.