Entertaining has really changed since having kids. I remember one famous dinner party DSO and I hosted (before kids) when friends took a round trip home in a cab at 3:30am to retrieve more wine (we had drunk our house dry and the bottle shops were shut!) and an espresso coffee machine!
Those days are long behind us - we now specialise in catering a meal at our house we call Lunner or Dunch (think Brunch but different meals). Guests and kids arrive around 4:00pm (after afternoon naps), dinner is served by 6pm and all children are bathed in one big tub and put in pajamas - production line style.
The last guest normally leaves by 8:30pm - kids prepared for bed and routine in tact! DSO and I are then just left to put the house back together. A tip for new players is to never tidy or clean up before the guests arrived! Any more than 3 kids under 5 years and the house is actually dismantled! The only advantage being that lost library books, dvds etc can often appear out of crevices not explored since the last lunner or dunch event!
dinner party with kids, entertaining
