I Just Want Mom!

As I'm writing this, Julia, my four year old, is sitting next to me (with her blanket in tow) shouting to her cousin..."I just want Mom!" My nephew, Ben, is apparently looking at her through the Diego telescope and it doesn't make her happy. It's on days like this that nothing else gets done around the house. All of my energy is exhausted on caring for the kids and making sure no one breaks something, hurts someone else, or takes off all their clothes. Tuesdays and Thursdays are my babysitting days. I watch my nephew, Ben, and another little boy named Ryan. Ryan is about 19 months but speaks like he's a three year old....he's quite amazing! His parents call him a "Little Parrot"....he repeats a lot of what he hears. I've learned from Ryan that it's important to know as much about a child as you can BEFORE you let the child around your husband and children. I believe this "Little Parrot" went home after the first two days with an enriched vocabulary of words and phrases like ...."shut-up", "stop acting stupid", "you're not my friend", "don't pinch me", "Andy's gonna bite me!", and my personal favorite he picked up from me...."Don't swear Matt". It's amazing what's said in one day among siblings - and husbands - when quarters get cramped.

Nap time is soon. I always love this time of day when I can sit for a few and reorganize my thoughts. I usually figure out what I'm going to make for dinner and then watch a short T.V show. I think I'm going to bake some chicken legs tonight even though John and Katelyn won't eat them. Ever since John discovered the bones are real and Katelyn discovered a vein in her chicken breast....chicken is scrutinized by the two of them. I can feed them chicken nuggets...I guess they think nuggets don't come from a "real" chicken. Oh well, time to go reorganize my thoughts for awhile.