I'm Old

Not officially...not until tomorrow. But tonight I'm feeling every bit of my 21 years times two. You see, Lynne had to go out of town unexpectedly. And nothing happens unexpectedly when you have four children ages 4 and under. Luckily for her, I have no life and a husband who was working all weekend, so I was able to move in to her house and play Supermom for a mere 24 hours. I have just one request: pray for Lynne. I honestly don't know how she does it, especially with a husband who travels like Clif.

It has taken me, Oldest Child and Youngest Child, and we all feel like we've been run over by a Mack truck. For her to be as organized as she is, and have the kids on a schedule like she does, and have them all eating healthy like they do, she has to work at least 26 hours a day! Her house looks like a tornado has come through it (but don't tell her; I'm hoping to have it all clean by the time she comes home!). The kitchen is the cleanest part - thank goodness she has a working dishwasher! Hopefully when the kids go to bed tonight, we can at least get all the toys back in the toy room instead of the toy room, the living room, the kitchen, the bathroom, the master bedroom, and the stairs. Hopefully I will get my second wind and have her house in recognizable condition when she walks through the doors late tonight. Hopefully, she will walk in to a clean house, with four soundly sleeping, clean children who will sleep until at least noon tomorrow.

What have I learned this weekend? It takes a village. No, I am not endorsing any political candidate, but noone can truly do this alone. I have forgotten that toddlers have a boundless amount of energy from the time they wake up until the time they fall asleep. I have forgotten that toddlers like to "help" you do everything. I have forgotten that four year olds think that just because the sun is shining it means it's OK to go outside and play...nevermind the fact that it is 45 degrees outside; the sun is up, so we need to be outside. I have forgotten that wintertime in toddlerville means noses...lots and lots of noses. Everytime someone sneezes, I have to find out (a) which one it was and (b) do they need a tissue. Teenagers have one thing going for them: they can wipe their own noses.

And to think, I get to do this all over again next weekend! Next weekend has been on the calendar for awhile; this weekend just came up. So I get six days to rest and recouperate before I get to come back over and spoil these amazing miracles that are running around like wild banchees.