Well, I had the joy of keeping my nephew and niece for about 24 hours after "Grandparents camp" was over, and before my brother could drive up from big city down south to pick them up.
Such cute kids! My niece is two and in the throes of potty training. She has a day care deadline to meet by mid August, I think. She's doing really really well. I even managed it without the "treats" although she's sly enough to try and talk me into extra freezy pops for about half an ounce of pee in the potty....."I don't think so, missy!" Yesterday I tried to convince her a raisin was candy. It is, afterall, just as forbidden on MY diet as candy is. We called them fruities and it was good, but the request for the freezy pop was probably revenge for my raisin ploy. It's not like I had not been spoiling them rotten with snacks upoon request and extra freezy pops anyways. After all, it's only 24 hours.
I'd also forgotten what it's like to take care of kids who can't read. My nephew kept asking me what different cereal boxes say. I'm SO not used to that. And of course there was the stack of books I read to my niece, which was to be expected. At our house, being able to read was considered just as essential a milestone as pottying and I think I celebrated the advent of quiet chapter book reading time with as much gusto as I did the end of diapering.
And apparently I was thoroughly conned into offering everyone a bed-time snack last night. Manipulated by a two year old who NEVER gets a bedtime snack at home, I learned today, and, who the kids confirm, also did not get a bedtime snack at "Grandparents camp"....hmmmmm. She's good. It was 9 pm and I was suckered into pulling out the cereal and milk. And of course, what is good for one, all must partake in...six kids. Dh bought extra milk on his way home from work last night at one in the morning.
Meanwhile, I am recuperating from the exra mayhem. I think that the next two weeks may well prove to be overwhelming. We have two birthdays, AND curriculum to purchase and coop classes to pay for, one kid going to camp and a cat that needs a rabies shot. And School supplies for my middle schooler to buy, since school starts on the 16th of August. I don't want to wait until the last minute this year, like I did last year. That was a nightmare.
So, you see, ordinary, ordinary, ordinary. My ten year old said something very sweet: "They say that you have to go out and do big things in order to change the world, but I think you can change the world just by being home and having kids." She looked at me. "Am I changing the world?" "Yeah, Mom. You are."
Such cute kids! My niece is two and in the throes of potty training. She has a day care deadline to meet by mid August, I think. She's doing really really well. I even managed it without the "treats" although she's sly enough to try and talk me into extra freezy pops for about half an ounce of pee in the potty....."I don't think so, missy!" Yesterday I tried to convince her a raisin was candy. It is, afterall, just as forbidden on MY diet as candy is. We called them fruities and it was good, but the request for the freezy pop was probably revenge for my raisin ploy. It's not like I had not been spoiling them rotten with snacks upoon request and extra freezy pops anyways. After all, it's only 24 hours.
I'd also forgotten what it's like to take care of kids who can't read. My nephew kept asking me what different cereal boxes say. I'm SO not used to that. And of course there was the stack of books I read to my niece, which was to be expected. At our house, being able to read was considered just as essential a milestone as pottying and I think I celebrated the advent of quiet chapter book reading time with as much gusto as I did the end of diapering.
And apparently I was thoroughly conned into offering everyone a bed-time snack last night. Manipulated by a two year old who NEVER gets a bedtime snack at home, I learned today, and, who the kids confirm, also did not get a bedtime snack at "Grandparents camp"....hmmmmm. She's good. It was 9 pm and I was suckered into pulling out the cereal and milk. And of course, what is good for one, all must partake in...six kids. Dh bought extra milk on his way home from work last night at one in the morning.
Meanwhile, I am recuperating from the exra mayhem. I think that the next two weeks may well prove to be overwhelming. We have two birthdays, AND curriculum to purchase and coop classes to pay for, one kid going to camp and a cat that needs a rabies shot. And School supplies for my middle schooler to buy, since school starts on the 16th of August. I don't want to wait until the last minute this year, like I did last year. That was a nightmare.
So, you see, ordinary, ordinary, ordinary. My ten year old said something very sweet: "They say that you have to go out and do big things in order to change the world, but I think you can change the world just by being home and having kids." She looked at me. "Am I changing the world?" "Yeah, Mom. You are."
Comments
Your story about your manipulative niece reminds me of the time my daughter conned my mother into buying her a leather skirt -- not just "leather," or "suede," but a short-short, shiny leather skirt that practically screamed "hooker." (She was 10.) When I called my mother, aghast, her response was, "Christa said you would buy it for her if you were there." "Mom, don't you know me better than that?!" "Well, I *wondered.*" Evidently she didn't Wonder enough. Kids, oy.