Biting Off More than We Could Chew

So, despite being new parents and grad students at the same time, Joe and I would like to remain social creatures. We like our friends and want to stay in touch with them. So, on Monday night, for our Family Home Evening (for those of you who don't know, this is a night set aside weekly to spend time with family- something that has been promoted by our church), we invited Dave and Rachelle and their son Benjamin (about six months old) over to celebrate Groundhog's Day. We thought we could have dinner (chicken wraps, seven-layer dip, and flan), enjoy some conversation, and then watch the movie of the same name as the holiday*, despite having a one-month-old and a six-month-old in the apartment. To quote one of Joe's favorite episodes of The West Wing: "That was a pipedream. That was folly."

As Joe and I prepared dinner and dessert, we made quite a mess in the kitchen, but didn't have time to clean up before our friends arrived. Lizzie was in her active alert stage when they arrived. She laid on the floor under a singing toy that lights up while Benjamin sat next to her and stared. We made joking comments about how he would need to wait a few years before making a move on her. The adults finished prepping for dinner. When it was time to sit down to eat, Lizzie exited active alert stage and entered "I'm tired, help me go to sleep" stage. Joe took Lizzie to the back room, swaddled and bounced her until she seemed asleep or close enough (we determine this by counting to 100- if she doesn't move, it's safe to say she's ready to be laid down), and laid her down. Then he came back and ate dinner. Benjamin was able to stay relatively happy in his parents' arms or playing on the floor at their feet. Dinner was completed.

On to the movie. Joe share a brief spiritual thought, as part of our Family Home Evening before we hit play**. It all started peacefully. We began to laugh at the dry humor of the movie***. Then, after about 5 minutes, Lizzie woke up (apparently we should have counted to 2000 or so). Joe went to console. We had not yet gotten through the song at the beginning of the film, and already we were down one viewer. Benjamin became fussy, and Dave began to bounce him and walk with him. At this point Rachelle and I were still sitting and watching the film. However, Lizzie would not be consoled. Thus, her mother was called in to perform the duty her father could not. And Benjamin seemed to be hungry so Rachelle got up to mix up some rice cereal to feed him. Joe was able to return to sitting down to watch the movie briefly at this point. Dave held Benjamin while Rachelle fed him, both splitting their attention between feeding their child and the film. I found that, despite her fussiness, Lizzie had no interest in eating. So Joe and I took turns walking with her. There were several times in this sequence when nobody was actually sitting and watching the movie.

Apparently, food was not enough for Benjamin either. So, about half way through the movie, after walking/bouncing/feeding/burping/swaddling/changing both kids we decided to call it a night. We were almost to the part where Bill Murray becomes suicidal, which is Dave's favorite part of the movie.

Dave and Rachelle left. Only, they forgot their keys, so I had to run those out to them. Five minutes after they left, we discovered a bag that was not our own sitting in the living room. We called and I took it over to them later that night- at which point I borrowed a swing they had, hoping it could be an instrument in consoling Lizzie.

As soon as we got Lizzie to bed, Joe had to work on editing a document for the Popular Culture Association that was due the next day. I helped for a couple of hours and then went to bed. After Joe thought he was done, he kept finding new things to be edited that hadn't been taken care of (it was a 387 page document so there was a lot of ground to cover). This process lasted until about 5am.

The next morning, Joe and I realized we had left everything the way it was the night before. I really wish we had taken a picture of the chaos. It looked like we had taken every pot and dish out of our cupboards, dirtied them, and then flung them willy-nilly across the kitchen and dining area. Our living room was scattered with blankets, burp rags, toys, baby chairs/swings (we now have borrowed 3 from friends- you never know which one Lizzie will like on a given day). Luckily, we got things cleaned up, around 1 o'clock the next day. Joe was able to get a nap, and at the end of the day, we were both able to log a few hours on schoolwork. Three words:
Welcome to parenthood.

*Joe would like you all to know Groundhog's Day is one of the greatest movies of all time. A true classic.

**He talked about how the message of the film is about losing one's self in the service of others, and once you do that, you find yourself (he really wants people to know that the end of the movie is in no way about Bill Murray finding happiness sleeping with the Andy McDowell character (which seems to be a common misinterpretation of the finale (there's even dialogue about how they just went to sleep without fooling around))). When he finally learned to forget his selfish wants, he got his life back.

***Bill Murray is a comedic genius.