The first two weeks back in the states after returning from SE Asia was complete hecticness. Before we were even over our jetlag we helped throw a bachelor/ette party, drove down and back to LA, participated in and helped with a wedding, and babysat Mo's sister's three children for 7 days while they went to Hawaii.
What? You might be thinking "Did you lose some kind of bet?" Believe it or not, the answer is the same as the one Mat gave the high-school clerk at Rite-Aid when asked the identical question in regards to why his beard was a bit more grown-out than usual. No, we didn't lose a bet, but instead graciously volunteered to watch Andre and Matthew, our 15 month and 6 1/2 year old nephews, along with Jordan, our 4 year old niece and a newly-adopted stray dog Calvin so that Maureen's sister and husband could take a much overdue (10 years!) vacation to Hawaii. Perhaps it was a way to ease some guilt on our part for being able to fly to Asia on a whim, perhaps it was a bit of temporary insanity, or perhaps we just wanted to spend some quality time with the kiddos.
Three kids and a dog! It was quite an experience. With three kids it's pretty much a guarantee that one of them didn't sleep the whole night, which kept us up and kept them cranky the next day. Add on to that a nasty cold that they kept passing around between themselves and we were definitely in for some adventure. Luckily their schedule was packed and we spent the majority of the time shuttling them from school to storybook cottage to swim practice back home and stuffing their faces with snacks in between.
After a few trying days and long nights of boundary testing, we all settled into the routine and Mat started making the morning coffee a wee bit stronger to counteract the sleepless nights. Matthew got major points one morning after we kicked him out of our bed and told him to "go play with your Legos" and he returned with special "Breakfast in Bed"; toast (actually made in the toaster - scary), brie cheese complete with a knife, some tangerines, and "Tea" made out of hot water from the tap. With kids this cute, how can you really get mad at them?
By the end of the week we were regular Supermom and Superdad, chillin' with the Moms and Dads at the school Jogathon event, comparing notes on strollers and Mac & Cheese brands, and sleeping when we could get it, which was usually during their naps or "quiet" playtime. We waged daily battles for the small assignments; Mo got stuck with reading "The New Dog" book every single night to Jordan, while Mat got to delve into a new chapter of Harry Potter instead. In return, he got to get up early and make the kids breakfast while Mo caught a few more minutes of shuteye.
Yes, we managed fine, and actually did a pretty darn good job. We got a little scared about the prospect of having children when we realized that we both had no work to go to and absolutely nothing on our schedule, but were still so exhausted we could barely move at the end of the week. Mat alikened it to Substitute Teaching; when you walk into someone else's routines, patterns, and schedules, it really takes a lot of energy to figure it out and keep the kids under control until you do. When you are teaching in your own classroom, you get to set the rules and habits from the first day, and hopefully can be a little more efficient with day-to-day happenings. Every time we held the little guy in our arms we wanted a kid right away, and every time the two older ones went berserk (which wasn't often, but enough) it made us think twice. In the end, we had a blast with our niece and nephews, and found ourselves having to repeatedly answer their question of "When are you guys going to have kids??? We want cousins!!!!"
Our tour of duty ended just in time to avoid the stomach flu that took over the kindergarten class and the projectile vomiting that ensued in the mini-van. Whew!
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