3 Kids + 6 Hours = 0 Bloodshed

WooHoo.. Sweet Relief!



I must admit, I had visions of crazy dancing in my head last night. The downright worst Super Nanny episodes ever flashed across my mind's eye. Screaming, hitting, cursing.. Kids Gone Wild Versus Cowering Adults. Would that be us?

I'm pleased to report, we had none of it.

Don't get me wrong, our family room looks like the Tasmanian Devil spun through. I've got spaghetti embedded in places I don't even want to know about and I'm certain missing pen caps, crayon pieces and other miscellaneous objects will end up choking my vacuum later on. Other than that, it was smooth sailing and a fun time.

The girls helped with breakfast, remarkably capable of cracking eggs without getting shells in the mix (not bad for a 5, 7 and a 39 year old if I do say so myself). They sat at the table for both breakfast and lunch like angels (DH quizzed the girls on math.. they loved that) and we held nice conversations. We had the normal sibling quarrelling but nothing I couldn't handle that prompted me to run into the closet and hide.

While I did dishes DH sat with them through a few cartoons and they laughed when he called it, "SquareBobSpongePants". Silly newbie. He noted that kid shows sure aren't what they were back in our day..

The 2 year old was all boy and took a few headers and spills (there were no scrapes.. I pray there's no bruising). Do they ever STOP? No. Thank goodness he was tough as nails.

I asked J how many hours of respite were required and she said, "No, it's not hours it's TIMES.. you are supposed to do it 3 times." Do 3 kids count as 3 times? Of course not (hey, we couldn't help but ask). I think they suckered us by scheduling easy, darling kids the first go round to boost our flailing egos. Now that we think we've got this kid-thing figured out, they'll lower the boom with a wild child (or two or...).

One Respite Down .. Two To Go!