As Far As Kids Go, Eight Is Enough!

I give up resisting the urge to make a blog. So many fun friends do it and I genuinely enjoy reading their thoughts. I certainly don't need another hobby, but since I'm already addicted to reading blogs, I might as well write my own, Right?

My brother- and sister-in-law went on a cruise and left their four kids in the temporary care of another sister-in-law. When they left, they called to ask if Michael and I would step up to the plate and raise their children should the unspeakable happen. Naturally, we accepted.

My plan for Spring Break is to keep busy! I thought a trip to the zoo would be a great start. I invited Flora, who was babysitting my niece and nephews while their parents are away, and Esther, another of Michael's sisters, to go to the zoo with us on Monday. Initially, they liked to idea, but as Monday dawned, Esther was having back spasms and Flora was feeling overwhelmed by caring for 4 kids under seven (she has one 13 year-old). Plan B was for all of us to meet at Josiah's house (where Flora was house/babysitting) for a picnic lunch and some free play. It really is a great place for the kids--5 acres, barn with some animals, huge swing set that virtually rivals our nearby park, and a trampoline--not to mention all the cousins and grandpa who live there. Well, certainly there were scuffles between the boys and girls, but, by and large, everyone was having fun. While we were eating lunch, I kept wondering what the heck would I do if I suddenly had 8 kids ages 8 months to 8 years? Perish the thought, right?

After lunch the kids were all out running and playing in the yard when suddenly I noticed Maia and Mason running for their lives...from the goats! "Nobody" had gone into the barn and freed Jack and Sara, my nephew and niece's goats. Maia was hysterical. Of course, the more she screamed and ran, the more the goats ran after her. She high-tailed it onto the deck and even into the screened-in porch. My grinning nephew, Ethan, held the door to the porch open so Jack and Sara could join her there. Maia climbed onto a chair and then up onto the table before jumping onto her Grandpa Skip, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing his waist with her thighs. I grabbed Jack and Sara by their collars and led them out of the porch and off the deck, handed Sara over to Flora and proceeded to pull stubborn Jack back to the barn. The whole time I was trying to walk Jack to the barn, he was pulling the other way and making this horrible gagging noise ("Aunt Mendy, you're hurting him!" yelled Ethan.) Closer to the barn, Jack started to roll his eyes back in his head and make a louder, almost-bleating sound. My back was starting to hurt from walking all that way hunched over with a death-grip on Jack's collar and I was beginning to think that he was going to try to bite me. Then it hit me. I knew what I would do if I inherited 4 more kids and their estate. First thing on my To Do list: Get rid of the goats!