My kids are on two completely different planes. Being three, Little Miss is very particular, demanding and insistent on having many a perfect tea party. Mr. Man on the other hand, is hell-bent on destructing everything his big sister creates, while laughing in utter glee.
So yesterday, while sitting down for an impromptu tea party on the kitchen floor in the middle of my dinner prep, I decided I should offer some tips on how to keep both a prim princess and a rabid dinosaur happy while sipping “tea.”
Dub infant The Village Monster. Scream a lot.
Nothing starts drama faster than lightning fast Mr. Man crawling into the business of Little Miss. In the blink of an eye, that kid is across the room, eating her princesses and knocking everything over. But if it is a game… Fun times! While we sat for tea, we exaggeratedly screamed every time Mr. Man grabbed at the tea cups or threw the saucers. Little Miss loved yelling, “Oh no the monster!” and then setting everything right back up. Tragedy adverted.
Offer the monster tea whenever he is quiet.
He doesn’t know he is a monster. He’s just misunderstood and wants to be included. And invisible strawberry tea can be very refreshing.
Give the monster a metal toy pan with which to deafen the tea party attendees.
Our resident monster loves noise and can be distracted by it for at least two minutes at a time. And we are all so used to the racket, what’s a little clanging on the tile? We got to munch our wooden sandwiches while he was occupied.
Keep round food on hand.
Monsters, and little boys, love a good ball. While soccer or baseballs may be hard to find at a tea party, wooden oranges, tomatoes and nearly round lemons are typically available. Keep the little pest busy by rolling his “food” across the floor for him to chase, leaving the other, more civilized guests to their conversation.
Love every minute.
One day they are going to be too cool for imaginary tea with their mom, they won’t want to do things together, and their problems won’t be so easy to solve, but right now, the three of us can sit together and laugh with nothing more than some miniature kitchenware and a few pieces of fake food to pass the time.
So yesterday, while sitting down for an impromptu tea party on the kitchen floor in the middle of my dinner prep, I decided I should offer some tips on how to keep both a prim princess and a rabid dinosaur happy while sipping “tea.”
Dub infant The Village Monster. Scream a lot.
Nothing starts drama faster than lightning fast Mr. Man crawling into the business of Little Miss. In the blink of an eye, that kid is across the room, eating her princesses and knocking everything over. But if it is a game… Fun times! While we sat for tea, we exaggeratedly screamed every time Mr. Man grabbed at the tea cups or threw the saucers. Little Miss loved yelling, “Oh no the monster!” and then setting everything right back up. Tragedy adverted.
Offer the monster tea whenever he is quiet.
He doesn’t know he is a monster. He’s just misunderstood and wants to be included. And invisible strawberry tea can be very refreshing.
Give the monster a metal toy pan with which to deafen the tea party attendees.
Our resident monster loves noise and can be distracted by it for at least two minutes at a time. And we are all so used to the racket, what’s a little clanging on the tile? We got to munch our wooden sandwiches while he was occupied.
Keep round food on hand.
Monsters, and little boys, love a good ball. While soccer or baseballs may be hard to find at a tea party, wooden oranges, tomatoes and nearly round lemons are typically available. Keep the little pest busy by rolling his “food” across the floor for him to chase, leaving the other, more civilized guests to their conversation.
Love every minute.
One day they are going to be too cool for imaginary tea with their mom, they won’t want to do things together, and their problems won’t be so easy to solve, but right now, the three of us can sit together and laugh with nothing more than some miniature kitchenware and a few pieces of fake food to pass the time.