The Peace of Three

My sweet friend Shannon has had some major challenges the last two months with her new baby.  There were complications after the birth that required major surgery for her.  Then the baby wasn't gaining weight and her sodium levels were super low, so she was admitted to the hospital for failure to thrive.  It took a week and a half to get things figured out, and Shannon was driving almost an hour to the hospital in the morning after her two older kids were at school and then driving back to be with them in the evening.  As a ward, we've been taking turns keeping the kids after school so her husband can work and others have been taking in meals. 

We have been friends and walking buddies since we moved here almost 4 years ago, so our kids have grown up together.  They got married before we did, so they have a daughter who's almost 8.  Kaleb is a month older than Emmy, and Abby is a month older than Easton.  And we continued the trend with Aaron and her Emma, too!    It's been really fun to be pregnant together and have kids the same ages.  So I didn't think twice about offering to keep her kids last Monday and yesterday.  Last week, she took Easton to spend the day with his grandma, so I just had Kaleb after kindergarten and Sydney for a couple of hours after she finished second grade. 

On Tuesday, however, I kept Easton as well, so I had 6 kids (including 2 sets of "twins").  And it was pretty crazy.  Abby and Easton played really well together all morning, and Aaron took a pretty good morning nap.  We picked up the kindergarteners, and then making lunches was more chaotic than usual because I had twice as many to make, I didn't know what the boys would eat, and there were 5 kids running around the house while I did it! 

During the afternoon, they watched a few TV shows (more than I would have liked them to), played Wii Fit, read books, played games like Button, Button, Who Has the Button, and sometimes just ran around in circles in the family room.  :)  I was amazed at how quickly 25 minutes would pass during a Disney Jr show (while I got Aaron and then Abby down for naps) and just how slowly time went by while we were playing Simon Says and Who Stole the Bacon. 

At 4:30, Shannon called to tell me they were discharging Emma that evening and wondered if I could keep the kids longer than planned.  I was happy Emma got to come home and glad I could help more.  I had planned to make waffles for the girls and me for dinner since Brett is on a business trip.  One of the kids didn't like waffles, so we made pancakes as well.  I had two bowls with separate recipes, and the kids LOVED helping to make dinner.  The two-year-olds headed down to the playroom (gratefully) while the older kids helped cook.  Emmy really likes to cook pancakes on the griddle and did a great job making snowmen and Mickey Mouse pancakes; Sydney manned the waffle iron; Kaleb "supervised;" and I held Aaron, set the table, kept everyone from getting burned, and checked on the littles in the playroom. 

Then came dinner time.  I didn't have enough arms.  Everyone needed butter, syrup, peanut butter.  I got out the pizza cutter to cut things quickly, but it wasn't quick enough.  Aaron got fussy and needed to be held.  Gratefully, Emmy took care of herself, and Sydney stepped up and helped herself and Easton.  I know I ate something myself between all the spreading and cutting, but I had a full glass of water still sitting at my place when cleanup time came. 

I made sure the perishable food got put away, and the kids were good about clearing their dishes.  My main concern was getting all the little, sticky fingers washed.  :)

It was Relief Society meeting night, so we only had a few minutes to play before finding 12 shoes (Aaron doesn't have any shoes) and getting 7 coats on.  We stuffed into our van and made our way to the church.  I felt like one of those clown cars that kids just kept coming out of.  1, 2, 3, 4, 5...and wait, we open the other door and get one more...6!  "My" kids made up the almost the entire nursery; there was one other little neighbor girl.  I was especially grateful for some adult conversation and me time! 

The kids' dad picked them up from the church, so I only had my three to put to bed by myself, but it was an hour past bedtime (I enjoyed my me time a little too much, apparently!), so things were still pretty chaotic.  I got the dishes done and fell into bed.

This morning when it came time to load the car to take Emmy to school, it felt so easy to only have three kids to get ready!  I guess it's all about perspective. :)