Double Playdate

Today we had a double playdate (as in, two moms, with two four year olds and two babies) with my friend Galila and her kids Jenna and Aaron. It was an odd combination of exhilarating (to see my dear friend, to have a fabulously competent partner in the parenting dance) and exhausting (to be wrangling all those kids with all their separate needs). My mom was there too (like she always is on Tuesdays) and a good thing too, because I was nearly overwhelmed in the ebb and flow of the day with its myriad challenges: lunch, nursing, negotiations over play, finding appropriate toys and gear for the older baby, dealing with a fussy newborn wailing at the top of his lungs, getting everyone dressed and changed and out of the house to go to the playground...whew. I admit it, I had coffee today. Lots of coffee. (Fetchingly served, I must say, in my brand new super gorgeous black and gold egg-shell china that I just inherited from my grandmother. But more on that in another post.)

Doing crazy playdates like this really is a different way to spend time with your friends (it's no leisurely coffee date or stroll through the mall), but when done with the right friend (like Galila or my other mama-friend Jen), it's quite satisfying (not to mention a bonding experience like no other). There are moments of shared laughter at the antics of our adorable offspring, shared post-traumatic stress after some particularly hectic wrangling (like this afternoon when Eli gagged on a hair in his mouth and barfed up his whole lunch, at the same time as the baby started screaming--and I do mean screaming--to be fed), as well as shared appreciation of those moments of quiet where we can look at each other and really enjoy the brief break (and sometimes even catch up on important conversations). I've said this before but I'll say it again: parenting is not for the weak of body, mind or heart. (Rebecca knows what I'm talking about.)