Baby Picnic

I have been promising the babies a midnight feast or a picnic for ages, mostly to get them to stay in bed at bedtime.  I used to do these a lot with my older three children and we all really enjoyed them.  They have outgrown them now, but I get the chance to do the nice parts of being a mum again with batch two (collectively known here as “The Babies”).

On this occasion Darling had felt poorly all day and I wanted to cheer her up.  Baby wouldn’t sleep the night before, so I told her we would have a midnight picnic if she stayed in bed, she tried her hardest to stay up until midnight, but feel asleep about half an hour after her bedtime.  I woke her the next morning for nursery and she excitedly asked if it was midnight yet.  I felt guilty and promised her we would have a picnic after dinner.

I managed to use the promise of a picnic to get then to do all sorts of things including eat dinner and put their things away.  At this stage, I thought I had better deliver.  Gorgeous saw the food and suddenly took an interest in helping me lay the food out.  This was always my favourite part of our little feasts.

I tried to mostly go for healthy options.  I told the kids we would be having a healthy holiday with less junk and more fruit and healthy meals.  The older ones were not impressed and have been moaning at me ever since.  Even more reason to be a mean mum and offer them vegetables.

After helping me set the food out, Gorgeous seemed to want to hang around and help himself.  He was adamant that he was only staying for the food, but I know that he is a big baby at heart and loves anything fun.

He did seem to help himself to most of the mini cookies though:

The Babies loved the indoor picnic and Darling was adamant we could not pack up while there was any food left.  I had to clear one tray and then distract them while I cleared the other and then convince them to get ready for bed.  I didn’t promise any more midnight feasts if they went to sleep, but will certainly find more reasons to treat them to one.