Patience is definitely a virtue. This past weekend we had to work on this together as a family. My brother and Simran had a Sikh wedding ceremony. We all had to work together as a family unit to get everyone dressed and ready by 9am at a hotel in Houston. Then we all patiently waited at the Guduwara for the event to begin. Then there is the actual ceremony. That was just like getting the kids to be quiet, respectful and pay attention to mass every sunday. Leave it to John David to make it clear that it was not sunday. Big thanks to Simran for having flower petals on the floor. That was enough entertainment for Carlos, Emma, Gavin and Ivanna. JP was sitting with the big boys, so do not know how they made it through. Despite all the comments about the long ceremony it was actually speedier than anticipated and must admit that thanks to the flower petals I was able to enjoy most of it, and take plenty of pictures and videos.
For dinner we left the hotel for a quick walk around downtown Houston and to pick up some food for the little ones. Emma and Carlos enjoyed a serving of ribs, while the brothers had brisket and bread. The kids were having fun, and enjoying the weekend of traveling and staying at two different hotels.
By reception time...the day had gotten long, and as parents our patience had decreased. We then turned to help from Nintendo DS, and Color Wonder. The kids enjoyed this while we waited for the reception to begin. The long day ended early for Emma. She fell asleep in my arms as we were waiting to enter the reception. She was passed around to daddy, and abuelitos for the rest of the evening. Very thankful that this wedding was attended by my whole family....hehe! Carlos was definitely not in best spirits either. After dinner he wanted me stay at the table with him so he could color. When I would go out to the dance floor, he would follow and give disapproving looks. Sammy was content dancing in his chair while he played Nintendo. The only little dancer was John David. Occassionally he would put his game down and join daddy or uncle Marcos for a quick dance.
Sometimes at a formal event it is easy to forget that kids are just that...kids. At the same time I feel a need to educate my kids on how to behave at these kinds of functions. The hard part is finding the balance for four kiddos of differing ages. I think overall the day went as smooth as it could have been considering it was an 18 hour day. Lucky for us we can continue to practice and teach patience this coming weekend at part 2.
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