Thankful For Two

Four kids 4 and under. How do people do it? In my opinion it should not even be possible. I've always wanted four kids. I've always wanted them to be close in age. But then I had one kid. And then another. Now I pray that God will bless me only with as many kids as I am capable of having while still maintaining my sanity (the little I have left). It can still be four... let's just space it out, ok?

This week I took on watching two more kids. A 4 year old girl and a 2 year old boy, four days a week from 8-5. It's almost sad how fast I realized I was in over my head and had made a horrible mistake. By day two I had to let their parents know that I could not watch both of them. Thankfully for me they were already debating on whether they wanted to put their daughter in school instead. I guess I kind of made that decision a little easier on them. Oops.

So how did it go? Well lets see. A needy 4 month old (so needy those little babies!), a whiny (too often overlooked) 2 year old, a rebellious 3 year old (sometimes I feel like after this year I will be completely prepped for teen years), and a very talkative 4 year old (who although has no issues with talking, hasn't quite gotten the hang of listening). And then me. A not very creative, patience-lacking, attempted over-achiever, who just can't seem to say no. The word "disaster" pretty much sums it up. Honestly, the only thing that kept me going today was knowing tomorrow is my day off. Only two kids! It's gonna feel like vacation.

And this is only after 3 days. Seriously, what would I do if they were all mine? I'm guessing it would be easier in the sense that they would in fact be mine. They would know my rules, I could discipline, and I wouldn't be going straight from two kids to four. BUT, they wouldn't leave at the end of the day. They would be with me all the time. There would be no getting around owning a minivan (and driving it too). I would constantly be torn. The ones who acted out would get the most attention, leaving me with four kids who constantly acted out!

Aaron was gone all day until 8 p.m. After watching 4 kids today, while sick and feeling awful, I then managed dinner, bath time, and bed time by myself (this can be hard when they both go to bed around the same time and one likes to nurse and the other likes his back rubbed and then one starts crying and the other starts playing). And though I painstakingly made sure Aiden did not sleep more than 15 minutes today so that he would be ready to sleep at bed time tonight (the kid is near impossible to keep awake and even harder to wake up once he falls asleep--in the day that is), he was still awake at 9p.m. (even though put him to bed at 7:45). I think he fell asleep sometime around 9:30. On his bedroom floor. What I am saying is, a night that normally would have been considered hellish for me, was instead considered not so bad. With out a 4 year old talking to me non-stop, and a 2 year old saying "Whyyyyy?" every few minutes, it really wasn't bad at all. Perspective people. This is what I've needed.

I love my kids. Thank you God for two. Please don't bless me with anymore anytime too soon!