Don't you love it when a strategy works? Tonight was Happy Hour Playdate (best invention ever) among my friends. Picture about a dozen kids running amok while adults sip drinks on the patio and nosh on delicious food. Blink is the only child over the age of 5, however, which makes for a challenging situation. He does really well with children a year or two younger, but a gaggle of his little sister's peers? That's kind of his nightmare.
The first Happy Hour Playdate, Blink had to be carried out kicking and screaming. It wasn't until he was agitated that I'd found a quiet place for him.
After that, I admit, I arranged for him to spend extra time with his father and avoided it altogether. But that wasn't possible tonight, so we had a few strategies in place.
We went over the fact that the rule is, if you have a problem you get your mother. And try to remember how young everyone is.
I had him ask the hostess if there was a quiet room he could use as his space. We brought a book and an ipod.
It totally worked! He did a great job. There were a few, um, teaching moments. Like when he wanted to ask everyone not to eat the shrimp. (As of today, he's a vegetarian?!) Or when he thought the girl who was trying to impress him was being mean and hated him. (What?! That's not how she can impress me. I have a list of things she can do to impress me. Like eating a worm. That would impress me.)
But no meltdowns! No altercations. Go Blink!
(Full disclosure: I did also let him play with my iPhone a lot more than I usually do.)
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