My Great Idea

I will totally admit, I was scared to death about summer arriving. Not the sunshine, the popsicles, and the bad TV, but the fact that all four kids were going to be home - all day, every day. And not because I was afraid the boys would fight constantly (which is a distinct possibility). And not because I was afraid of a reprise of Lillie's "Christmas-Time Freak-Out of 2009" brought about by the combination of boys being home from school, and the arrival of a little sister (also a distinct possibility).

I had no idea how I was going to survive things like going to the bank, running to the post office, and the dreaded grocery shopping.

Don't get me wrong, individually, all of the kids seem to know how to behave in public. Even in small combinations they are tolerable on short errands and shopping trips. But put them all together and it is like an explosive chemical reaction happens. Suddenly a nine year old seems to find it appropriate to run up and down aisles playing hide and seek. A 6 year old thinks it's funny to try to car surf on top of the cart that looks like a car. And a three year old starts tossing every kind of junk food known to man into the cart. You know you are in trouble when your infant having a diaper blowout is the best part of the shopping trip.

So I was scared.

And then I had an idea. What if I don't have to bring them? What if I find a babysitter to watch the kids for a couple hours one day a week, and I run around town, getting things done? Isn't that what teenage neighbor girls are for? Genius.

So for the last two weeks Rachel has come over on Monday morning, and I have had the minivan to myself. I have to say, it is SHOCKING how much I can accomplish when I don't have to unload and reload four kids at every stop. Just this morning I ran to the church, two banks, the post office, Babies R Us for a crib mattress, the theater to pick up midnight Eclipse tickets (!!!), and the grocery store where I got a weeks' worth of groceries, all in just two hours! Hallelujah!

Funny how a couple hours away from the kids doing ordinary errands can make their, and my, summer so much more sunny!