This weekend we have a house full of kids. Well, three of �em. To me that�s a house full, since we usually only have one. This weekend we have K and her little brother KC, whom B calls her brother, too. We have KC stay over now and then to give his parents a much needed break, just as they do for us by letting B stay over at their house, like they did last weekend. We dig this reciprocal relationship. What a godsend!
For the most part, it�s been fun and not too much extra work, although sometimes the number of dishes that get used and dirtied borders on the ridiculous. Yesterday we ran the dishwasher three times! Granted, the first load was from the night before, but the other two were from yesterday. For the life of me, I can�t figure out how so many dishes pile up, but they do. Perhaps I should stop cooking. That would solve much of the dish problem.
Yesterday, about 10 minutes after I spoke to the kids� mom on the phone extolling their virtues and proclaiming them to be well-behaved and no trouble at all, all hell broke loose. I was attempting to help K figure out how to use the little sewing machine we got her for Christmas, so my attention wasn�t completely focused on the other two (ages 6 and almost 4). Okay, it wasn�t focused on them at all. I thought they were just playing, being noisy and rowdy like always. Turns out that what had started out as a little �tea party� in the living room, quickly escalated to a full-blown WATER FIGHT. Both kids were drenched, and so was everything else in the room. The worst part of it was the floor. My new floor! Anyone with hardwood or laminant knows that Enemy #1 is water. A little water, as in a damp mop or rag for cleaning and wiping up, is fine. The floor is designed for this. But a pool of standing water can be disastrous! That�s what I faced when I went in to survey the damage.
Many towels and mopping up later, I could see the seams of my beautiful new floor buckling a little, as they were a little swollen with water. As good as these floors are, standing water can wreak havoc. You can bet that each of those two children were quickly made aware of their mistake, and threatened with severe penalties if they should ever do such a thing again. Meanwhile, P and I watched nervously as the floor dried and the seams returned to their normal positions.
We knew they would, but the kids didn�t. We got a lot of mileage out of that knowledge. Yes, we are cruel parents. But the fact is, if the water had been left to really soak into the floor, the damage could have been real and it could have been extensive. No way were we going to pass up the opportunity to drive that point home.
They were angels for the rest of the day.
Today, well, I don�t know what we�re going to do for entertainment. Keep them from killing each other for starters, I guess. As good as they are, they do sometimes behave like typical siblings, with all of the fighting and rivalry. Part of the problem is this computer! We actually have to use an egg timer, and allot each of the kids a certain amount of computer time, because if we don�t, they fight over who gets to play on it. And forget about ME ever getting online. No, I have to get up at the crack of dawn if I want to use my own computer. SO, egg timer. It solves a lot of problems. Ding! Your turn is over. NEXT.
Ugh, time to empty the dishwasher and start all over again. I�m thinking take-out for breakfast. McDonalds�s has pretty good breakfast platters, and they�re relatively cheap. At least you can throw away the dishes.
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