Parenthood: Late Night Wedding Receptions and Toddlers

Last week I wrote about flying with a toddler for the first time. As with all new experiences, it posed some challenges, but it was good experience overall.

As I mentioned, we spent a long weekend in Canada where we attended my cousin's wedding.

Before heading to Toronto on Friday, we stopped to visit my Nana (on Thursday) and then spent the night at one of my aunt's houses.

Jack had fun playing with my sister's kids as well as playing with some of my younger cousins.

In addition to traveling solo with my toddler, I had the added responsibility of several freelance projects and was grateful to have family who were willing to watch Jack while I snuck off to find internet and wrap up some of my work.

Once we were at the hotel in Toronto, Jack was happy to jump in the pool with his cousins as well as run wild with his first cousin, Levi.

The wedding day was a challenge. It was cold and rainy and my sister had a migraine (and she was also traveling without her spouse).

While she crashed in our room; my mom, my nana and I watched the kids in the lobby. Hotel lobby's and toddlers are not a fun combination.

As the day went on, more relatives appeared and we somehow managed to get all of the kids ready and to the wedding on time.

The GPS on my phone would only work when I had wifi. This meant finding where I needed to go while I was still at the hotel and then hoping I didn't get lost or go off of the map as I drove around the greater Toronto area.

The wedding took place in the afternoon and was beautiful. Brianna, my cousin, was a perfect princess.

After the wedding, it was back to the hotel. Jack fell asleep on the drive back so I sat in the car for over an hour in order for him to get a good nap before the wedding reception.

After a quick snack, we headed to the reception. It was a full course meal with lots of visiting and dancing. The kids loved the dance floor.

The wedding was a lot of fun, but also stressful. It was the first time I have really felt that I am an old mom.

Without Daniel there to be a second set of eyes on Jack, I found myself constantly on the run to keep up with him.

Jack wanted to be on the dance floor. He wanted to watch the band. He wanted to get into the box of props for the photo booth. He wanted more ice cream.

A couple of times I stopped to talk with a relative and realized that Jack had disappeared.

Thankfully there were plenty of family members around to help bring him back to me on the occasions where I struggled to find him.

Daniel and I love new experiences, but we have a saying that there are things in life that we are glad that we had the opportunity to do, but that we would never do again.

Attending a late night wedding reception without a spouse to help watch my child falls into that category. It was fun, but totally exhausting and nerve wracking. I'm glad I went but I wouldn't do it again – at least not by myself.