instant motherhood x 4
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The first babysitter was a bit of a stress bomb, so my local bishop, who's trying to sort it all out, asked if I would step in. It's been a while since I did the instant parent thing, but I've got plenty of experience in child care so I'm not too nervous about it all. Plus these are nice kids. SR was in my seminary class this year and she's lovely: interested in everything, always has an opinion, cooperative...just a great person to have in class. Ironically she is the one the previous babysitter had the most issues with. She's been great for me. They've all been cooperative actually, which is good because there was enough to deal with just keeping track of their busy end of year schedule.
Here's how our week went:
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Tuesday: I discover that cooking for five is a bit different to cooking for two. SR goes to Air Force Cadet training. We've made a plan to see Harry Potter 4 on the weekend, so the younger kids and I begin our HP week by watching the first movie. (They all look so young!!!)
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Thursday: I get the phone call telling me I'm in the running for the new car. That night we all head off to the school, as this is the night that we have tickets for the performance. It's a typical high school performance with its share of last minute problems, but most of the acting and singing is good, and we enjoy it. SR is great (!) as the Hatter ~ so much so that she's quite in demand for cast photos after the show. Eventually we drag her away. It's a very late night, but a good one.
Friday: A storm hits Canberra (more news of that with pictures later) and I have to spend some time at home cleaning up glass and other debris. As a result dinner is very late. I watch HP3 after everyone's asleep.
Saturday: The church Christmas party is postponed due to storm damage out at the property where it was to be held, so we bring our HP plans forward and see the new movie (review to come). We end up with a spare hour after the session we'd planned to see sells out, which we spend choosing snacks and drinks at the supermarket. We buy too much and eat our way through it all. The movie's great! After dinner the younger kids head off to bed and SR and I spend the next hour or so watching deleted scenes from the first 3 HP DVDs and discussing how the 4th movie differed from the book. Fanatics, yes.
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The evening brings vindication when the following conversation takes place:
Me: Do you understand what I wanted you to do this morning when you were upset?LMP's been a piece of cake to deal with since.
LMP: Yes. You wanted me to talk to you about what was wrong.
Me: Do you know why?
LMP: So you know what's wrong.
Me: Exactly. Because I can't help if I don't know what's wrong, can I?
LMP: No.
SR: (surprised) She really did get it. I've never heard her sound so intelligent.
Me: You can't underestimate a five-year-old. They are taking on a lot at that age - school, new friends, new learning - they think a lot and they can understand more than you think.
One more week to go!
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