We just made it through "Hell week" for the Bach Choir. It's the week before Festival, when there are rehearsals every night and concerts on Friday and Saturday. Mommy has done plenty of nights alone with both of us boys, but doing it night after night for a whole week sounded exhausting. Grandpa came over to help every night! He and Mom basically traded off kids every 20 minutes or so in the crazy bedtime routine. Luke likes to be fussy starting at 6pm until he goes to sleep around 9:30. And I don't like to go to bed, ever, so I put on a big song and dance for whatever audience I may have, and eventually wear myself (and everyone else) out. The good news for the grown-ups is that we were always asleep around 9:00, so Grandpa could head home, and Daddy didn't have to deal with us after a long rehearsal (there is never any rest for Mommy).
Where things get really crazy is our Saturday schedule. Mom decided she wanted to see the Family Concert Opera "Young Meister Bach." Daddy was singing in it, so she invited Grandma and Grandpa over again to attend the concert and help out with us kids. She realized, in the first 5 minutes of the Opera, that there was no way I was going to last through the whole thing. I made it a good 45 minutes, before I had had enough and we headed back out to the lobby - so as not to disturb other attendees. We sat in the lobby until intermission, and then decided to call it quits and head for home. Luke slept through the whole thing (show off).
Mommy thought that intermission was actually the end of the whole program, but it wasn't. So when she thought that we were going to go out for lunch with Daddy, and then we couldn't, that threw off the whole plan. Instead we headed for home, where we had pizza, but only to discover that we brought Daddy's music home with us (which he needed for the afternoon). So Grandpa and I took it back to him at Lehigh, and then went to find some trains and throw some rocks. Mom and Luke stayed home until it was time to head back to Lehigh so Mom could be in the Bach Choir photo. And then Grandma and Grandpa headed home for the day. All of this is the very abridged version of a day whose plans were changed every 10 minutes.
Once Grandma and Grandpa left Mom, Luke, and I headed for the car. There wasn't enough time to go home, but it was raining. So we drove around looking for the "Ghost Train" (Grandpa and I had heard one earlier in the day), and I fell asleep. Luke woke up 4 seconds later. Mom gave up and parked and nurse Luke until Dad was done. And we all had 5 Guys burgers for dinner, because both parents were done trying for the day.
From Mommy:
"You think you can do these things, Nemo, but you can't!"
That keeps playing in my head. It's not the first time I've decided to do something that turned out to be not such a good idea. I am so glad I had Grandma and Grandpa there to back me up, though, and to patiently get through the day with us.
The cutest part, though, is that Preston really seemed to enjoy most of the day. The Opera was too much for him, but he did remarkably well for the first part of it (he just can't.sit.still - when does that happen?). And he was excited to go on an adventure. He found an empty basket in Luke's room before we left for the day. He filled it up with all the essential things he might need: 3 pairs of shoes for Luke, a blanket, a duck shaped block, a book, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and a bag of apple slices. He kept track of it all day, and the sandwich really came in handy when he was starving for lunch in the car on the way home.
Luke just comes along for the ride, and it generally a hit with anyone he meets. And he gave Grandma and Grandpa some great smiles while they waited on the lawn for John and me to be done with the choir group photo.
So I guess it's good to be brave and test the limits of parenting multiples. And having help is ALWAYS a good thing.
Grandpa got the photos this time: