So what happened at your holiday party?

[aphel]

We all dread it. The insensitive comments (So you're still breastfeeding?). The weird parenting advice (are you really suggesting I give my baby booze for teething?). The intrusions on your/your baby's personal space (I'm talking to you FIL! The next time you simply take my baby from my arms without so much as a heads up, we are going to have a rumble).

We actually had an ok time yesterday, despite some minor annoyances. In know most of it is innocent and just people trying to make conversation. However, one thing did truly bother me. We were eating breakfast when I look up to see SIL (who I am quite sure I have shared my views on solid food with) kneeling in front of my exclusively breastfed, never had anything in her mouth but BM and medicine which she is prescribed five m.o. DD, with a giant gob of WHIPPED CREAM on her finger. The kind from a can. Both DH and I scream 'NO!!!!!' just in time, thank goodness. I'm usually kind of a wimp, but I this time I emphatically told her, through gritted teeth "NEVER give someone's baby something to eat without asking first." To which she says "It's just whipped cream!"

I would have been so crushed if baby's first taste of food had been redi whip. Ugh.

So what happened at your family's celebration?

[Buzzer Beater]

We had an okay time, too. A number of people said things like "Where can you put the baby down?" and "You're still breastfeeding?"... yup, we basically don't put the baby down and passed her back and forth, me, DH and DD1 who is a sucker for her baby sis. Several people said she was the best behaved baby ever. Yah, cuz she's in our lovin' arms!! 

[McGucks]

SIL spanked her DS2 (3 y.o.) and made him watch a video while everybody else ate holiday dinner.  I very happily sat with our nephew and my baby in the other room.  I've always been more comfortable around children than adults anyhow.

[texasfarmom]

Well, we didn't have too much of a situation at THE big holiday party with my DH's family. But, that is because two weeks earlier, we did. We went to breakfast with Aunt P and Uncle D and some other friends after church one Sunday. We told them we didn't want the baby to be fed and told them my aunt had already given her a taste of lemon and we didn't like that. We jokingly say she lost her auntie priveleges. Well...Uncle D wanted to hold our baby, so we let him. We don't let others hold her very often, and she doesn't really like many people besides Mommy and Daddy anyway. Well, at the end of breakfast she had drool around her mouth so I wiped it. It was sticky! Uncle D had given her syrup!!! She liked it, so he did it again. I'm not sure how many times, "She liked it though!" according to him.

So we decided then and there no one, not one of the 50 or so people that would be at the party, would hold her. We would be mostly eating and visiting and didn't want our EBF baby fed again! Well, of course everyone wanted to play pass the baby and we replied, "We have a strict no holding, no feeding the baby policy." They wanted to know why, of course. So we told them to ask Uncle D. We should have/could have been more sensitive in hindsight. I think we offended Aunt P by telling everyone it was Uncle D's fault they couldn"t  hold her. She holds a grudge too. I hope we can mend things in the near future if we did indeed upset her.

[Plummeting]

Heck, I wish our problem had been rude comments. Instead, the baby had croup that was so bad we ended up at the ER early the morning after the big party. She cried through the whole party, and no wonder, considering she also had an ear infection. Now she's had her first medication of any sort, ever, and it was a real doozie of a combo of steroids for the croup so she could breathe and antibiotics for the ear infection because the watch and wait approach did not result in it getting better. I'm sure if the baby hadn't been sick someone would've had something obnoxious to say, but everyone felt too bad for her to say anything stupid. At least she's feeling better this evening.

[marinak1977]

Sigh... we went to visit DH's family and for starters DS ended up with a cold and trying to cut 4 teeth at once so we ended up with a poorly sleeping hurting LO who didn't want to leave Mama and Papa's arms. Which upset MIL who kept trying to lure him with toys and was hurt that he didn't want to be held by her. Then I overheard her on the phone describing to someone how DS thinks he's bigger than his cousin (who is almost 6 months while DS is almost a year) and was hitting his cousin on the head with a block until we had to take it away.  Which is not at all what went on. DS saw Papa playing with DN by putting a block on him and tried putting a block on DN too which we redirected because he doesn't have very fine control so we didn't want him to accidentally whack DN (which he didn't). Both sets of parents were right there and nobody saw anything wrong going on. I don't know where the idea that an 11 month old can pick on someone because he feels bigger even comes from. Then I overheard her telling DS to just wait because DN will get bigger than him and will get him back. WTF? Sure an 11 month old is a bully.

[FloridaBorn]

DH went all out buying gifts for everyone and got a case of beer as his present from his mom and sister.  (He doesn't even drink beer... unless it's some fancy German weissen or something).

I got gifts for my daughter's cousins (ages 4 and 1) for the gift exchange xmas morning at MIL's house and neither of their parents got gifts for my baby.  

DH says next year we're going away for Christmas  

[Knitting Mama]

My ILs have gotten better about not butting in when it comes to parenting (though both do say that we should just wake the baby up when she naps later than when they want us to come over, even though we've both said more than once that we never wake a sleeping baby if it can be avoided ). But this year I got the shaft completely on presents. My SIL and her husband all got great stuff. My husband got great stuff. My husband's uncle and grandmother all got great stuff. I got....spatulas and a bottle of hand soap. Not even kidding. Everything else that was wrapped and labeled to me was really a present for my daughter. Now, of course I want her to have a fabulous first Christmas, but a) she is a baby and doesn't care how much stuff she gets, b) we have a smallish house and really don't have room for tons of crap, and c) I felt so unappreciated. I understand that it's more fun and probably easier to shop for the baby, but come on...

[FloridaBorn]

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama 

 I got....spatulas and a bottle of hand soap. Not even kidding. 

Dude, lol, I got a candle... a re-gifted/used scarf... and a re-gifted/used ring holder music box thing.  My husband gave me a FABULOUS pair of earrings, though.  (To make up for the COMPUTER RAM he bought me last year!!! !!!!)

My daughter got a $200 piece of artwork from Mandalas.com!!

[Knitting Mama]

Originally Posted by FloridaBorn 

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama 

 I got....spatulas and a bottle of hand soap. Not even kidding. 

Dude, lol, I got a candle... a re-gifted/used scarf... and a re-gifted/used ring holder music box thing.  My husband gave me a FABULOUS pair of earrings, though.  (To make up for the COMPUTER RAM he bought me last year!!! !!!!)

My daughter got a $200 piece of artwork from Mandalas.com!!

I feel you! My husband actually saved the day, too, as he saw that I was bummed and deduced why when he was going through our huge amount of stuff in the garage and saw my gifts. He used his gift cards and his Christmas cash to buy me a new cell phone, which I've been really wanting.

[texmati]

We did a ss exchange, so everyone only got one gift. I'm afraid mine was kind of a dud (hand knitted scarf +handwarmers for my brother ), but I'm totally excited by my gift!

Unfortunetly I got into a huge blowout (tears and all) with my mom over.... (wait for it)... weather green or red apples are better in apple crisp. Apperantly, I have unresolved bitterness towards my mother, and that's why I disagreed with her. I'm still pissed.

[SilverFish]

ugh... i was just about ready to cut my sister out of my life permanently a couple days ago. now i've decided that 2 days is probably the max amount of time i'm ever able to spend in the same house as her.

so far she's made comments about still breastfeeding, made comments about dd waking at night, smacked her ds's hand repeatedly while yelling no (he's 12 months old, for &^%$'s sake!), fed my vegan daughter cheese, yogurt and who knows what else, yelled at me when i refused to feed her chunks of chicken, and i'm not even going to mention all the rude things she said about OUR food.

oh well. i'm happy with the way we're raising our dd. she is adorable and healthy and sweet, and it's too bad that my sister is so negative about everything.

[sere234]

I brought DS's new toys to the in-law's house for him to play wth (really just chew on and drop!!!) and my SIL's kids started playing with them. I didn't care at all of course but found out after DN sucked on his favorite toy that she has been sick with tummy/explosive diarrhea for a couple weeks. Lovely. And the toy was in DS's mouth already at that point...

I hate always leaving family gatherings with them hoping my baby doesn't get what I just found out her kids have....