[lunarmagic]

Random rant:

If people (family) really want you to come to their house on holidays, and you have toddlers (as do other members of the family), then they need to child proof their house. At least the major things like STAIRS. I'm exhausted just chasing Kate around all day, and she's pretty good all considering. SIL has twins a similar age, she looked twitchy! Every time we turned around someone had grabbed something breakable, chokeable, or was trying to take a trip down the stairs.

Also, not planning a meal for the middle of nap time would also be a good idea. Then you wouldn't have three very whiny, screamy children directly after the meal, because no one got a decent nap today. And I wouldn't be up until after 10 with my overtired but-took-a-late-short-nap-in-the-car screaming-hissy-fit-in-the-crib child. (Because who DOESN'T like to end their holiday that way? I love it!)

The holiday was fine. The food was great. But I'm tired.

[MrsLMB]

Yes. Yes. Yes.

I just got into it with my mother over this because I don't want to go anywhere this year. We went to my sisters for a bday party this fall and Claire was finding change and model cars everywhere. I hid out with her in one room (with a door) for the entire 2 hours we were there and it was a 3 hour drive (one way) to get there. So not worth it. People do need to consider the safety of their guests, including toddlers.

[Brookem]

Natalie! I am dealing with an overtired but-took-a-late-short-nap-in-the-car screaming-hissy-fit-in-the-crib child AS I TYPE THIS!! You saw my future. It is also 10:15 here so you were right on the money!

(No stair issue here but we had a meal perfectly timed to crush nap time)

[Runzbarrel]

Amen! My Mil's is awful for toddlers and she has stairs! Luckily dinner wasn't
ready in time so Colton did get a nap but it wound up being a late night. We just went to bed and I have to be up in 6hrs to take ODD to the airport

[momoftwins]

TOTALLY AGREE. It IS exhausting and it manages to zap any fun quickly when all you are doing is chasing a curious toddler the entire time.

I feel for your SIL with the twins and lack of baby proofing. I remember those days well. I actually used to keep a "baby jail" Super Yard in my car for situations like those! I could jail a couple kids up or block some stairs. It ended up being pretty handy. I remember family thinking I was a lunatic for locking my kids up so that I could shove 2 bites of food in my mouth, but you do what you gotta do!

Now with Mason, I just plain refuse to go anywhere during nap time for the most part. If we miss a family function, too bad!

[lunarmagic]

Ugh sorry other people were dealing with the same thing. Brooke, I hope you got some quiet soon enough. It took Kate a good half an hour before she finally gave up.

I am so happy that SIL is hosting Christmas at her house, which is baby proofed for the most part (minus a few trouble spots that Kate gets into that her kids don't), and she's very aware of nap times! I think if my MIL were anyone else I'd say something phrased as helpful suggestions, but we know my MIL is WICKED sensitive and anything you say she takes as a criticism and gets very upset. And she's a nice lady so we don't want to upset her... it's just hard when you really can't speak up.

[Runzbarrel]

It really bugs me when family members are totally clueless when it comes to babies/toddlers needing their sleep! I've dealt with this issue since Colton was born just about. My MIL always say's 'well he can sleep here'. Well actually no he can't. He's never 'relaxed' enough over there to sleep on his own. I swear he picks up on the bad energy over there. So like Betsy, if there is a family get together during nap time we don't go.
We're supposed to go back over today AND tomorrow! I think today we'll go over after Colton's nap and have a early dinner (leftovers) so we can get home and Colton can go to bed on time! He's been up late 2 nights in a row and I don't like to do that very often.

[Kobain's Mommy]

We were going to go to my dad's brother's house but it was a 4 hour drive one way and DH didn't get off till 4am Thanksgiving day/has to work today. So we would have been in the car 8 hours yesterday with 2 little ones, DH who hadn't slept, me who isn't comfortable driving that far right now, not to mention I wasn't feeling well. We opted to go to my mom's brother's house which is a 90 round trip drive. I'm SOOOOO glad we didn't go to my D'sB's house! My aunt has NOTHING for kids so we'd have to bring two PnPs(in case bad weather and got stuck there), Coby's chair booster, toys for Coby, Lanie's portable vibrating chair, clothes, our meds..... just to go there. My aunt also doesn't think she needs to baby proof for other people's kids. This past summer we went to their lake place for the 4th of July. There was many times Coby almost went flying down the steps. If we go there next year I WILL be bringing one of our gates, since Lanie hopefully will be crawling then.

At my M'sB's house while they have steps Coby would climb up the second step then sit and watch everyone. He wouldn't go past that step. All we had to bring was a few toys,(my aunt had some but I brought some of his favorites like his laptop, and weebles), and Lanie's vibrating chair. Our kids were the only two so they had a lot of attention and people watching out for Coby running.

[gingerrae]

I am in the same situation and I hate it. My MIL has a bunch of tea cups set out every were and sewing needles and knitting needles and tons of fragile stuff. she has over 20 grandchildren and still doesn't baby proof her house its so annoying. My mom is no better with her fully stocked bar that the kids get into at every opportunity.

[speechteach42]

Sorry to hear some of you had a less than relaxing holiday. It is so hard when people don't make an effort to accommodate the little ones. It's like they don't realize it would be in everybody's best interest! My mom was nice enough to plan the dinner time around E's nap, but she still has some babyproofing issues. For example, I found my daughter attempting to bite a chunk from a tealight yankee candle...hmmm who didn't put that up high enough? MIL's house is just a joke. She has three sets of stairs that she doesn't make any effort to block off and tons of ugly knick-knacks that are breakable. She's in for a rude awakening though because they're going to be babysitting my niece who is soon to be born anyday and my SIL will go bat-sh*t crazy if they don't make an effort to fix that stuff.

[BobbityBoo]

Originally Posted by lunarmagic

Ugh sorry other people were dealing with the same thing. Brooke, I hope you got some quiet soon enough. It took Kate a good half an hour before she finally gave up.

I am so happy that SIL is hosting Christmas at her house, which is baby proofed for the most part (minus a few trouble spots that Kate gets into that her kids don't), and she's very aware of nap times! I think if my MIL were anyone else I'd say something phrased as helpful suggestions, but we know my MIL is WICKED sensitive and anything you say she takes as a criticism and gets very upset. And she's a nice lady so we don't want to upset her... it's just hard when you really can't speak up.

This is my MIL to a "T"!! Anything I say she takes as if I am saying she wasn't a good mother to her kids. Umm... no. We just parent different and uh... have different kids! But yes, she is nice and sweet so I have to eat my feelings a lot of the time.

Our dinner was nice and honestly simple. We went on a dinner lake cruise, so no cooking, no prepping, no clean up. We didn't have to be there until after nap time, and it ended early so no late night. The only issue was we had a large party and a tiny table. Someone's elbow bumped my knife and I got butter smeared all down my shirt and pants as it fell to the floor. That and now there is NO LEFTOVERS!! That in and of itself is a crime against Thanksgiving! lol

[Runzbarrel]

Originally Posted by BobbityBoo

This is my MIL to a "T"!! Anything I say she takes as if I am saying she wasn't a good mother to her kids. Umm... no. We just parent different and uh... have different kids! But yes, she is nice and sweet so I have to eat my feelings a lot of the time.

Our dinner was nice and honestly simple. We went on a dinner lake cruise, so no cooking, no prepping, no clean up. We didn't have to be there until after nap time, and it ended early so no late night. The only issue was we had a large party and a tiny table. Someone's elbow bumped my knife and I got butter smeared all down my shirt and pants as it fell to the floor. That and now there is NO LEFTOVERS!! That in and of itself is a crime against Thanksgiving! lol

LOL that is so true! Poor thing I'm sorry we're not able to do our "Friendsgiving" this year. Hopefully next year we can all get together again. That was a fun evening!

[rebeccabaltimore and more]

I hate it but I'm used to it. But my mother always the nerve to ask, when we leave, "Did you have a restful visit honey?" ***? No!

[momoftwins]

My MIL occasionally breaks out the gate, but that thing is from like 1972 and I really don't trust it for blocking off stairs! Eek. My favorite is the highchair she still has, from when her kids were babies (let me just say that the oldest one is 42! It's actually exactly what is says...a high chair. It has no straps and no tray!!! Why she still has that thing is beyond me, but I finally broke her heart and told her I was not about to put my baby in that thing (mega sensitive MIL here too)!! I bought my own booster/high chair (the ones that sit on a chair) and I keep it at her house. It actually has straps AND a tray! Whoa!

My favorite though is DH's aunt, who is great at baby proofing. I am not kidding you, she takes ROLLS of Saran Wrap and literally wraps it around her little display shelves and end tables full of knick knacks! Leaves them as is and wraps em up! LOL! It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen, but hey, guess I can't complain that it's not child proofed!