Yesterday (Tuesday) was a marathon of patience and fortitude. The kids were up early and were contentious, but since it was a lovely day, we retired to the back yard to play after breakfast. We had yer kiddie swimming "poo," we had yer sand box, we had yer swing set and yer Little Tykes jungle gym and slide. We even put up a little dome tent to play in. STILL, keeping occupied and happy was a major undertaking. At one point, I observed Ryan chase Robin around the yard with a plastic shovel raised in the air, as if to hit her, for at least 20 minutes. It was a gigantic game, but I had to watch every second to make sure murder and mayhem didn't ensue. We only went through two or three sets of clothes due to accidental poo dunking. Nathan cooked supper while Meg ran an errand and I bathed children. The kids ate their picnic supper in their jammies and were spirited off to bed shortly thereafter. The adults soon followed.
This morning, we woke up to the dreaded rainy day. Thunderstorms here and there made backyard play pretty iffy during the critical hours, but the children were relatively mild-mannered. They watched a couple of their favorite shows on television after breakfast, then we decided to go to a place called Escapades, which is nothing more than an enlarged McDonald's-or-Chuck-E.-Cheese-type play place. For $4 per kid, you can let them run their little hearts out--which is essentially what most of them did! We rolled in behind a school bus from Anderson carrying 35 kids, so it was already busy when we got there. It soon became obvious that little Ryan was one of the smallest children there and that I was going to have to stay with him to prevent him from being run over by running, screaming, bigger kids who have no sense of where they are going or where their arms and legs are at any given moment. Robin had since run off on her own. Bless them, the children were largely good. After we had been there almost two hours, I gave them the 15-minute departure warning, but that had to be shortened because a particularly rowdy group of kids showed up. One knocked Robin over; others were just too rough in the "ball cage" for me to let Ryan stay in there. (That's his favorite, as he will tell you.) So, we just left. It was time, anyway...
When we got home, I changed Ryan's diaper and put him down on the couch in "Gwamma's sleeping bag," and he quicky fell asleep. Robin and I retired to the back yard to play and await Daddy's arrival home from work. I gotta tell you--dealing with one child is a snap. Put the second one in the mix, and it gets exhausting, real soon! With Ryan pooped out on the couch, Robbie was a little angel in the yard. Piece o' cake!
Robin has taken to wanting to sleep with me when I'm here. (This is a first.) The understanding is that she has to fall asleep in her own bed, then I will carry her to the futon with me when I retire. Well...two nights, I didn't do that and their were tears in the morning. <sigh> Between the dog and the granddaughter, there is almost room for me on the futon!
I have been out of school exactly a week and I haven't had a single day not spoken for--and it isn't over yet. We shall see what tomorrow brings...
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