quiet after midnight...

Life is made up of a series of situations....there are things we sort of have to do, and things we choose to do...places we want to be, places we have to be......obligations, things we do to be nice. Sometimes I feel like my own life is completely out of my hands. I said YES to the babies, and didn't realize all the running around and errands and messes they would bring. Nah, just kidding. I would have said YES anyway. But in my life, I have decided to have a good time and make the most out of my situations, no matter what. Okay, going grocery shopping might not always be the "funnest" thing in the world, but I can bond with the kids I have with me, and make the best of it.

This afternoon, I discovered the following:

1. We were dangerously low on milk. I mean dangerously.

2. We were dreadfully low on bread.

3. We were out of bananas. Bananas are a necessity. I am allergic, cannot eat them, but my kids eat them every day. If we have them, that is.

4. My sister had to run some errands in the big suburb, where the good stores are. She was going all by her lonesome.

Well, I mentioned it in front of my kids, who did NOT want to go to the store, and and was totally encouraged to join my sister and bring home good things. Joseph is 19, and makes an excellent #1 babysitter, Sam, 15, was here too, as was Margaret, 13 and Kathryn, 12....then Mali and Aaron and Ben were getting home from Mc'Ds...so I knew the kids would be all right. They really wanted me to go....I think they think it is fun to hold down the fort without me. Sam cooked dinner enthusiastically because it was his favorite: tomato soup and saltines. A few of the kids had sandwiches instead....which Sam said was bratty, but hey, some of them don't like tomato soup. I wasn't here to mediate this, but they are all alive and well, so they must have figured it out. Camille was pretty happy to see me, but she was fairly good while I was gone, they said.

I brought Charlotte Claire with me. I bought her a new lamp for her room, (she sleeps with it on), new sandals, and a HappyMeal, because it had a little MadameAlexander doll in it. (Cheryl also bought one and gave her the doll...Thank You, Cheryl!)....I also bought her a package of Mentos at the checkout and told her to save it for tomorrow, which she did. She was completely and totally happy to be the only child for the afternoon. I enjoyed her, and she enjoyed me. And it helped here at home, because when Camille lost her sidekick.

Today the kids colored all over the driveway with chalk, played a huge game of hide-n-seek, inside and out, with at least ten kids, painted with watercolors and colored with markers, played Wii, of course......why do they need school? I think they are learning enough just playing and living. Charlotte Claire told me in the grocery store that we have FIVE pools. Four little ones and one big one, she said. What can she learn in kindergarten?

Anyways, there was a lady in the store today who had three kids with her. Ages, perhaps 14, 12, and 8. Girl, girl, boy. Those kids were full of it, and having a great time. Mommy was all business. She didn't seem to think they were funny at all, I thought they were hilarious, it made me miss my kids. I was in line behind them at the service desk, and she pointed to Charlotte Claire, and told her kids, "You are teaching that little girl bad things!"...I assured her that she had enough older siblings to teach her bad things, not to worry about it...I just think she could have been having so much more fun with her kids if she lightened up a bit...smiled at them, perhaps. Am I judging her? I hope not..I certainly do not know what she is going through in life, she might have cancer, or be going through a divorce, or maybe her mother is ill....I don't know...I just know that life is short, kids grow up, and yes, kids are lively and silly and irritating sometimes, but love them and appreciate them all the time, not just when you feel like it. They slip right through your fingers......