New Year, Same Old Chaos

Despite never being all that religious, I have always enjoyed the Jewish Holidays. The traditions, the gatherings, the food, and yes, even the chaos. I admit I was happy to know, however, that Chaos does not just come along with our holiday dinners, but at many of my friends' dinner's the same chaos ensues.
My parents hosted Erev Rosh Hoshana on Wednesday night. Everything was fantastic even though we had to eat without three of our very late arrivers, and we had 4 kids who had no interest in sitting for dinner leaving a minimum of one adult missing from the table at all times.
Todd and I hosted Thursday nights dinner. We have hosted holidays before, even since the boys have been born, but not since they have been quite so active. As a result we had to part with them on Thursday in order to prepare for this dinner. The thing is, Todd and I tend to get a little excited about even the smallest of gatherings. I am not sure if Todd was always this way or if it a bug he caught from me, either way he is equally effected. I must say, I am very proud of Todd and I, in that we managed to have everything ready, including our showered selves with time to spare. We were organized, neat, and the kitchen was clean. All was great. We called it for 5, intending to sit for dinner at 6:30. You would think this would be plenty of time for the guests to arrive, but we still had a few late comers, as we've learned to expect. We did sit promptly, however, the boys were whining, the 5 other kids were wild, no one wanted to sit, the volume was loud and the soup, despite simmering all day long was somehow served cold- thank god for microwaves!! Other than these few minor setbacks, all was well. The food got pretty good critiques and we think we know how to better our brisket for next year.
Things were finally beginning to calm as our bellies were full. We had people cleaning up, coffee brewing and we were getting ready to have dessert. We gathered around the birthday cake and as we were placing the candles in the cake, my niece, nesting in her father's arms, used this moment of calm as her opportunity to throw up all over my six and 4 year old cousins. The screaming that erupted from their little bodies as they became drenched was piercing, causing the rest of us to explode with laughter. Jay took Delaney to the bathroom, while a hysterical Mindy and Jay S. rushed their daughters to the bathtub, and still the rest of us laughed.
We laughed for a good 10 minutes before anyone made a move to clean up the mess.
Delaney handled it wonderfully, never shedding a tear, Alexandra and Emma handled it as any child would who had just been puked on. Those of us who laughed, well, I am not sure we handled it so well but how often does anyone get witness a Stand By Me type barfarama.

Another year, same old chaos indeed.