A ticker tape parade

This post is dedicated to and was inspired by my two good friends, Caryn and Glen, who have a 14 week old baby boy, Luke. 

When you have a new baby getting out at night is near impossible. Even if you have a super chilled baby who can 'sleep anywhere' its still rough. First you have to arm yourself with numerous baby items; camp cot, monitor, blankets, blankie/soft toy, dummies, bottles etc. All this is on top of your normal nappy bag of course.

Then you've got to figure out how to fit in bath time, the evening feed, your own dinner (which usually gets discarded in favour of being remotely on time) and time this all with bedtime in the vain hope that baby will go to sleep on the drive there. 

Once you reach your location there's the set up/ invasion of a friend's room which is hopefully far enough from the action that the baby won't be distubed but not so far that you can't hear them cry. You know, just in case the monitor doesn't work.

Once you're all set up there's the move from the car to the room. This you do with the haste and delicacy of a jewel thief in an Entrapmentesque movie making sure to hardly move the car seat at all so as not to wake your little angel (if they had the courtesy to go to sleep in the car, which they often don't), while the whole gathering/party holds their collective breathe and is completely silent.

Of course no mater how good you are at the car-room move they are sure to wake up when you get to the room. For some reason kids have a sixth sense about these things. They just know you're there to do some fun grown up thing and they don't want to be left out of the action. So now you've got to put your little dear to sleep in a foreign place without your rocker or ball's aid. In a room which smells different, in a bed that isn't their normal bed with an anxious parent who wants to join in the bible study they came all this way for. A tall ask for any baby and parent. Many a time we just gave up and went home or even more commonly we didn't even bother trying to go out.

So when Caryn and Glen arrived at bible studying remotely on time, persevered through the going to sleep stage and two wake up calls from baby Luke I was super impressed. I know what it takes and any parent who can get it right deserves a ticker tape parade held in their honour. So this post is for them and all the other parents who bravely venture out at night with their babes in tow. Here is your ticker tape parade. I commend you.