Last Thursday was Thanksgiving. Every year we do the same thing. Lunch at the in-laws at 1:00pm with Jen's side of the family. Now it's nice to know exactly what we are doing every year, but you count on it being a stress free fun family event, of course it wasn't this year. We show up to the in-laws a little after noon and enter the house to some new faces this year. It's not unusual to see some new people at the lunch since there are still a few single members of the family and EVERYONE is invited to lunch. There are three kids in the living room (around 7 or 8 years old) playing on the floor. Upon seeing that I have a Disney Scene-It game in hand comes up to me and grabs the game. Doesn't ask, Doesn't know me, Doesn't care. I will call this oldest brat... brat (and that is being kind compared to what I was thinking). He opens the game (it was still shrink wrapped) and proceeds to layout the game and get the DVD into the player, and then starts yelling that it isn't working. OK, One: It's not your house Two:It's not your TV Three: Ask someone to help him. Finally my father in-law helps him get the DVD working, but I could see that he was really thinking about not letting him play at all since he was being such a shit, but he let him play. This brat was horrible, yelling at his brother and sister because they didn't know the answers and calling them stupid. I was about to get vocal with this brat, but hey it's not my kid and I don't know his parents (or what trailer park they were from). I was trying to leave the room, find a beer, and a quiet corner near the food, but no, my kids want to be in the same room. Andrew actually started chewing their pokemon cards and I was thinking "you go kid". Besides the brat, my day was basically spent chasing kids around the house. I miss the days when Andew wasn't moble since it made watching him so much easier. Man, Andrew was all over the place. Usually when we are at the in-laws I get help from them watching the kids, but they had 30+ people to take care of so it was up to us.
I was milling around the food having a few snacks and I look down the hallway to see a bunch of kids. I see the brat and another kid (who I know) around the same age wrestling with each other. And then I see his mother heading down the hallway toward the kids and I soon realize that they are fighting!! The mother yells at them to stop and they don't. MY TURN, I HAVE HAD ENOUGH. I say one word "HEY!!" and they immediately stop, and the parents pull them aside to have talks with both of them. I finally see the brat's mother and she seems pretty normal, but I can tell that she has little to no control over this brat.
In comes my next issue. Tradition is that the kids get their food first and then everyone else. We get food for both my boys and finally head toward the line after 10 minutes or so (30+ people you know) By the time I get my food and sit down, the kids are done eating and want to go outside and play. Damn. So I am trying to shovel down my food with my son trying to hand me his shoes and coat. I sure am not going to let my kid outside alone and especially with the brat. So I go outside with William and he is playing with the other kids, basicly just chasing them around. I soon realize that I am the only adult outside with these 8 kids. I guess I am the only one that cares. Granted they were all around 8 years old so parental supervision isn't really necessary. So I am watching William and keeping an eye on the other kids so they don't get into trouble or destroy my in-laws place. The brat finds my in-laws burn pile and starts throwing sticks from the pile into the pond where I have to stop them. Then all of the kids are around the pond and going into the woods to find sticks to throw into the pond. WHAT PART OF DON'T THROW STICKS INTO THE POND DIDN'T THEY UNDERSTAND!! It sucks that I end up being a babysiter for all these kids and I am not even getting paid for it. I don't know how many times I yelled at the brat to stop doing stuff. I figured that I was just making sure William doesn't get to close to the pond and I guess I can fish a kid out of the pond if he falls in too. I would have taken William inside but he was having so much fun, and who knows what would have happened to the other kids if I left them alone with the Lord of the Flies. Finally after a half hour, the brat's mother comes out and yells at them because they were told to stay away from the pond. HUH? No one told me that. Opps. So I feel bad since I let them play around the pond, but hey that's what kids their age do. My saving grace is that the brat was leaving to go to his father's house, but that got delayed by "tattoo talk" with they guy she was with (classy). Finally things calmed down a little and it was back to chasing kids inside. Then we packed up and headed to my brother's house for dessert. That was surpisingly the normal part of the day. After a visit there back to the house to pass out and get ready for work the next day for both Jen and I at 6:00am. Damn. Of course Andew has an issue so we end up being up for a couple hours in the middle of the night. Man I need a nap.
1 comment:
Crap! Maybe something like that! First, I'd punish the "brat" for appalling behavior, then I move onto the woman. I cannot in good conscious call her "mother" as that is reserved for a person who takes the role of raising a person who might live to be an adult. With "classy tattoo" (guy friend), it isn't a wonder that they stayed inside while you were the spectator to Thing 1 and Thing 2(?) and the mayhem.
My family's experience was setting up thirty tables or whatever it took so that we ate together, though clearly the kids were not maintenance free (drinks, spills, more food) then off to run off the food.
That is a crock! I'm glad that at least the tail end of it was okay and that William had such a good time. Wow!
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