Everything Dads Need to Know About Taking Kids to Barbecues

It’s that time of year again. This past Memorial Day weekend officially kicks off the summer barbecue season. But a passion for eating grilled meats is not enough to get you through the season with your family. There are a few things you should know when preparing for a summer barbecue.

Background Prep
Frequently, the host is a friend of only you or your wife, not the both of you. So it is important that you get prepped on the background of the home owner. You don’t want to walk into the situation unprepared. Likewise, if you are the one that knows the host, prep your wife. Items to discuss beforehand: how many kids, what do they do for work, who are they friends with, etc. It never hurts to prepare. For instance, you don’t want to start railing on the local gas station only to find out that the host is the owner of it.

Bring Changes of Clothes
Barbecues typically have some sort of activity that ends up in a dirty, soaking wet kid. Make sure you bring changes of clothes for each kid (no matter how big). Keep one dry set in the car and bring beach towels. If you put all your dry stuff in one bag it is destined to be hit by a water balloon.

Sunscreen: Load it on
All day events in the sun means one thing: margaritas. It also means another thing: sunburns. Your kids will need to get sunscreen applied heavily and often. So that you can chill with your drink instead of holding a sunburnt crying kid.

Keep your Kids Hydrated
It is important that you keep on pumping your kids full of fluids. All that running around in the sun will dehydrate them and they won;t even know it.

Scold Only Your Kids (But Loud Enough for Other Parents to Catch On)
Remember, some of these people are basically strangers. The last thing you want is to start a fight with another parent because they can’t control their kids. So when your kid jumps into the fold, scold them loud enough for other people to hear. Be passive aggressive about it. It works every time.

Do the Healthy Thing Beforehand
Odds are, your kids will be chomping on dogs and burgers, cookies and brownies, and popsicles. It is incredibly difficult to get some veggies into them. So do yourself a favor and feed that stuff to them before you even get there. Then you can chill and not worry about doing the vegetable argument in front of complete strangers.

Bring Extra Wipes and Extra Diapers
You and your wife may already have a standard in place for number of diapers and wipes brought along in your diaper bag. Make sure you double it when you go to a barbecue. Picture this scenario that my middle kid did this past weekend. He ate a popsicle. But like most kids, he could not lick it fast enough to stay ahead of the “hot sun melting frozen object” curve so most of it dripped down his arm. He proceeded to wipe that arm onto his shirt and then into his hair. He then played in the sandbox. You know the rest of the story. Many wipes gave up their lives in that battle.

Eat Hard and Fast
If you are like my wife and I and have a kid between the ages of 1 and 2, you know that keeping tabs on a new walker is tough. SO the first chance you have for one of you to eat, jump on it. Do it up large and fast. And only after you finish stuffing your face, switch off. The reason is simple: you may not have a chance to eat again so you need to store up some reserves to take you through the afternoon.

Know When to Leave or Deal with the Consequences
Let’s recap here. Kids eating a ton of sugar, playing in water on a hot day. All day. This, mind you, without a nap. You and your wife are cruisin’ for a bruisin’ and you are both gonna be losin’. Know when to cut them off and get home. You will have to do a bath and your kids will be the evil spawns of satan regardless. So make sure you get them to bed before you reach your limit for the day.

Do you other noodads out there have anything to add?