Rave!
Last night as we were driving home the boys requested that I make pizza for dinner. Colin started it, but I said I didin't think I had pizza cheese at home. Well, that was the end of it. Ryan began a litany... Pizza cheeee! Pizza cheeee! Pizza cheeee! Pizza cheeee! Pizza cheeee! Pizza cheeee!
So when we got home and I discovered that I did indeed have some cheese in the house, it was settled. I had the boys play in their room as I made my quick pizza dough (10 minutes to let the yeast do its thing, add flour/olive oil/spices, then cook!). When I threw the pizza in the oven I gave the boys their appetizer (salad for Colin, raisins for Ryan) and finished getting dinner ready. And when it was nearly done we got a great surprise - Hari was home early!
The usual insanity ensued: Hari walked in the door, Sydney over-wagged a doggy hello as Ryan sprinted to the door leaping into Daddy's arms. Colin, however, changed up his role. Instead of sprinting over while shouting "DADDY!!!" he looked over at Hari (who asked for a hello) and shrugged saying "I'm eating my salad." as if that explained it all. I mean, really... he couldn't come over and say hello... he's eating his salad. Duh!
We all had a nice dinner, then I finished cleaning the kitchen while the boys were playing and Hari went to change clothes. Then I made a proclamation.
"If you clean up and put all the toys away, we'll have a glow-stick party."
Colin heard that and immediately mobilized, frantically putting everything away and chastising Ryan for not moving fast enough. As they put away their toys Hari went through the menu on the TV to find Pandora, and queued up our dance music (Prodigy Radio) and I moved the sofa and table out of the way to make a dance floor.
I checked - all the toys were away, dance floor was clear, and we were good to go. Colin turned off all the lights, I handed out glow-sticks and Hari cranked up the music as the Sharma Rave began. We all danced around making our different glow-stick moves (Hari did the COTTON CANDY, Ryan was WINGS, I did my STRIPES and Colin came up with the SWIMMER). The crazy-train continued for about 15-20 minutes then finally the kids started to get tired. Ryan actually sat on the stairs, although still waving his glow-sticks, and Colin was getting whiny so I knew we were at the end of the party.
From there it was upstairs as usual: showers, brushing teeth, pajamas, story, bed. That's a normal night for any family, right?
I sometimes wonder if I'm setting these kids up to be party animals, holding our own little mini-rave, or if they'll be "over it" by the time they're older, and I can say I was just doing some proactive parenting. But really, I don't care much either way. Our little glow-stick parties are just some silly, crazy fun where and that's all they need to be. (It doesn't hurt that it also tires the kids out right before bedtime... but you didn't hear that from me!)
So when we got home and I discovered that I did indeed have some cheese in the house, it was settled. I had the boys play in their room as I made my quick pizza dough (10 minutes to let the yeast do its thing, add flour/olive oil/spices, then cook!). When I threw the pizza in the oven I gave the boys their appetizer (salad for Colin, raisins for Ryan) and finished getting dinner ready. And when it was nearly done we got a great surprise - Hari was home early!
The usual insanity ensued: Hari walked in the door, Sydney over-wagged a doggy hello as Ryan sprinted to the door leaping into Daddy's arms. Colin, however, changed up his role. Instead of sprinting over while shouting "DADDY!!!" he looked over at Hari (who asked for a hello) and shrugged saying "I'm eating my salad." as if that explained it all. I mean, really... he couldn't come over and say hello... he's eating his salad. Duh!
We all had a nice dinner, then I finished cleaning the kitchen while the boys were playing and Hari went to change clothes. Then I made a proclamation.
"If you clean up and put all the toys away, we'll have a glow-stick party."
Colin heard that and immediately mobilized, frantically putting everything away and chastising Ryan for not moving fast enough. As they put away their toys Hari went through the menu on the TV to find Pandora, and queued up our dance music (Prodigy Radio) and I moved the sofa and table out of the way to make a dance floor.
I checked - all the toys were away, dance floor was clear, and we were good to go. Colin turned off all the lights, I handed out glow-sticks and Hari cranked up the music as the Sharma Rave began. We all danced around making our different glow-stick moves (Hari did the COTTON CANDY, Ryan was WINGS, I did my STRIPES and Colin came up with the SWIMMER). The crazy-train continued for about 15-20 minutes then finally the kids started to get tired. Ryan actually sat on the stairs, although still waving his glow-sticks, and Colin was getting whiny so I knew we were at the end of the party.
From there it was upstairs as usual: showers, brushing teeth, pajamas, story, bed. That's a normal night for any family, right?
I sometimes wonder if I'm setting these kids up to be party animals, holding our own little mini-rave, or if they'll be "over it" by the time they're older, and I can say I was just doing some proactive parenting. But really, I don't care much either way. Our little glow-stick parties are just some silly, crazy fun where and that's all they need to be. (It doesn't hurt that it also tires the kids out right before bedtime... but you didn't hear that from me!)
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