When Cara and her husband get an invitation to an adult-only party, they welcome the break from being parents of three for a few hours. Thankfully, her parents are ready to save the day and babysit the kids. But when Cara and Jason go back to fetch the kids, they\u2019re shocked with the change in their behavior. Are you sure that the kids will be okay?\u201d my husband, Jason, asked me as I went through my closet trying to find something to wear.\n
\u201cYes!\u201d I exclaimed. \u201cThey will be absolutely fine with my parents.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s just that you know how they can be,\u201d Jason said. \u201cThe kids, not your parents. They\u2019re a handful.\u201d \u201cThey\u2019ll be fine,\u201d I repeated. But my husband wasn\u2019t wrong. Our kids were a lot to deal with. They were as hyper as anything and often stood on each other\u2019s feet, trying to outdo each other as they tried to claim our attention. Jason and I were getting ready for our friend\u2019s birthday party, and thankfully, it was an adult-only party. \u201cI\u2019m so glad that it\u2019s an adult party, Cara,\u201d Jason said, ironing his shirt. \u201cWe need an evening away from the little monsters.\u201d I couldn\u2019t have agreed more. I just wanted to stuff my face with good food that wasn\u2019t leftovers from my children\u2019s plates. And drink champagne. Or wine. Or beer. All three seemed good enough for me. Oh, honey,\u201d I said, putting on my earrings. \u201cI\u2019m just as glad.\u201d\n
Look, Jason and I love our children to the ends of the planet and back, but after five years with zero help, we needed a break. My in-laws had both passed away before the kids were born, and my parents lived in another state until a few months ago. \u201cWe thought that it was time to downsize the old house and move closer to you and the grandbabies,\u201d my mother said when she first told me about the move. So, finally, my parents were here to be the backup that Jason and I needed. \u201cDon\u2019t you stress, Cara,\u201d my father would say. \u201cRetirement is all about taking care of the grandchildren.\u201d Our kids are wild. There\u2019s Simon, our five-year-old and eldest; then there\u2019s Max, at three years old; and our little Lily, who is Max\u2019s Irish twin. They are so active that even when they were all slightly younger, I could barely find time to go to the bathroom without them getting into some kind of trouble. Just last week, I was trying to make dinner when chaos erupted in the living room. \u201cLily, stop climbing on the bookshelf!\u201d I yelled, rushing in to grab her before she could topple it over, sending herself straight onto the hardwood floors.\n
\u201cBut Mommy, I\u2019m a superhero!\u201d she protested, wiggling out of my grasp. Meanwhile, her brother, Max, was bouncing on the couch, chanting, \u201cBoing, boing, boing!\u201d with an energy supply that seemed endless. At least Simon was in the kitchen with me, sitting at the counter while he nibbled on a bowl of grapes. \u201cMax, for the love of all that is holy, sit down!\u201d I pleaded, trying to corral both of them. \u201cWhy?\u201d he asked with genuine curiosity. \u201cBouncing is fun!\u201d \u201cBecause I said so!\u201d I replied, already feeling defeated. I longed for a break, so when the party invite came, I was thrilled, as was my husband. Come on,\u201d I called, rounding up the kids as I put my shoes on after changing. \u201cIt\u2019s time to leave!\u201d My husband strapped the kids into the backseat, giving each one a fruit roll-up to keep them occupied on the drive to my parents\u2019. We dropped the kids off at my parents\u2019 place and headed to the party, excited for a few hours of adult conversation and no sticky fingers pulling at my clothes. \u201cNow, this is a party,\u201d Jason said, kissing my cheek as he brought over two glasses of champagne. \u201cI agree,\u201d I said. \u201cBut I do wonder what they\u2019re up to.\u201d\n
My husband laughed and popped a piece of cheese into his mouth. \u201cAt least your father will keep the boys entertained. And I\u2019m sure your mom would have taken Lily to the chicken coop to look at the hens.\u201d My parents were as modern as they allowed themselves to be, except for their chicken coop. That was the one thing that they ensured made it through their move. The party flew by in a few hours of actual grown-up company, and Jason and I relished every moment of it. We thrived under the company of our friends and the hazy feeling of champagne running through our veins. We danced with Zelda, our friend whose birthday it was. And we laughed loudly without having to worry about anything. But beneath it all, we missed our little monsters. After six hours, we returned to my parents\u2019 to pick up the kids. I braced myself for the usual chaos, expecting to see the living room torn apart.\n
But instead, I was speechless. There they were, my two hurricane sons, sitting calmly at the table, smiling and chatting with my parents as if they\u2019d been like this all their lives. Lily was asleep on the couch with her thumb in her mouth. \u201cWhat did you do to them?\u201d I blurted out before I could stop myself. My parents just chuckled and waved it off, but I was dying to know their secret. \u201cJason, would you like some pie?\u201d my mother asked. \u201cLily and I made a pie earlier.\u201d My husband enthusiastically followed my mother into the kitchen while my father excused himself to go to the bathroom. \u201cMommy, please,\u201d Max said, coming up to me. \u201cPlease don\u2019t leave us here again\u2026\u201d \u201cWhat? Why?\u201d I asked, kneeling to his level. \u201cHe means, don\u2019t leave us here for such a short time,\u201d Simon said, jumping into the conversation. \u201cWe\u2019ve had such a good time here!\u201d \u201cWhat did you do with Grandma and Grandpa?\u201d I asked.\n
\u201cGrandma was busy with Lily. They cleaned the chicken coop and made the pie,\u201d Max said. \u201cAnd Grandpa took us to the attic, and we began to make a dollhouse. Grandpa said that it\u2019s not just for girls. He showed us how to use a hammer and how to sweep away the dirt after,\u201d Simon explained. \u201cAnd he said that it\u2019s important for a boy to know these things. And then Grandma called us, and we all made pizza together! We can make it at home. We can teach you, Mom!\u201d I couldn\u2019t believe what I was hearing. My kids, who usually couldn\u2019t sit still for five minutes, had spent the day building and cooking. And they had loved it. \u201cCara,\u201d Jason said, bringing me a slice of pie. \u201cThis is amazing; you\u2019ve got to try it!\u201d By that point, my parents had rejoined us in the living room. \u201cSo, all it took was some building and cooking?\u201d I asked them, beaming. My mom smiled. \u201cThey\u2019re good kids, darling. They just needed a little focus and some new activities. And besides, it means more to us to be with our grandkids. We missed so much when they were younger.\u201d And then, my father chimed in, of course.\n
\u201cYou know, Jason, Cara, kids just need to feel useful. It\u2019s easy for them to get into a routine and go a little unhinged in their own homes. We know this well from you and your brother,\u201d my father chuckled. Jason and I thanked my parents profusely, but they just waved it off, saying how much they enjoyed the day. \u201cWe need this more often,\u201d my mother said. \u201cBring them here all the time. Bring them for sleepovers!\u201d As we strapped the kids into the car, ready to get them home for bath time and bed, I felt a sense of calm take over me. We got the kids home, and Jason took over the boys\u2019 bath time while I took over Lily\u2019s nighttime routine. \u201cMomma,\u201d she said sleepily. \u201cIt was really nice to be with Grandma today.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m glad you enjoyed yourself,\u201d I said. \u201cCan we get a chicken?\u201d she asked. \u201cGrandma showed me how to clean the coop.\u201d \u201cNo, you can play with Grandma\u2019s chickens for now,\u201d I said. After an hour, all three of our kids were tucked into their beds, and Jason and I were happily ready to get ourselves into bed, too. \u201cIt\u2019s been a good day,\u201d my husband said as he brushed his teeth that night. \u201cI\u2019m not sure what your parents did, but let\u2019s hope that it works for the better.\u201d\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I Dropped My Naughty Kids at My Parents\u2019 Home \u2014 I Was Shocked When They Were Good as Gold When I Picked Them Up When Cara and her husband get an invitation to an adult-only party, they welcome the break from being parents of three for a few hours. Thankfully, her parents are ready to\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":81306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[855],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-81296","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-story"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/62.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}