We went to Austin, Texas to spend Christmas with Diane's brother and family. Many other of her relatives also came, so we had at any one time 15 people (including four who were under 4 yrs of age), two cats and a large dog (an Akita). Kristin got the stomach flu the day after Christmas, I got it two days later, and Diane got it two days after that.

The worst part of the visit was Diane's brother's two and a half year old monster, er I mean son. He's real hyperactive and undisciplined (alert and active, according to his parents). We counted to less than 30 times that we had to stop him from hitting, pinching, choking, kicking, or knocking Kristin down. He would start by saying "I want to pet the baby," and play with her nicely for a while. But then, it got to be too much for him to be nice - he would start saying "I want to hit the baby," and then attempt some physical damage. On other occasions he would just go up to her and knock her down, or pinch her, or try to pick her up by the neck, or hit her in the head with a bottle. We could never relax when the two of them were in the room together.

I'm glad that it's over.