Yesterday all the siblings and grand kids left for their homes, but not till after we all went to church and reminded our ward just how big our family really is. We've lived here for 11 years, but the three oldest were in college already, and the next oldest was a senior in high school and was here only for a year. The next oldest was here for several years, but at this point has been home from his mission for four years, I think, and has been at college ever since. Most of the ward (those who haven't been here as long as my parents) only know the four youngest. They now know me, also, so I'm sure they had figured out there was other older kids as well. It can be quite overwhelming when you see us all together, though. We took up two whole rows in the chapel- long rows, not the shorter side rows.
DD was sad to see her cousins go; she had fun playing with them. She wasn't sad to have her toys to herself again, though. Unfortunately, I think everyone leaving triggered her separation anxiety big time, and today I couldn't leave the room without her getting very upset. I had to take her with me wherever I went, even if it was just from the kitchen to the laundry room.
I was going to go for a bike ride this morning, but got working on transferring files to my ipod and getting things ready for our trip, and then dad needed to go to Home Depot to get the stuff he'll need while we're gone. While we were in town, I got some last minute errands taken care of, then we came home and started packing. I'm doing my writing quick while some laundry finishes, then I have to finish packing and loading the car. I have to get it all done tonight, since we need to leave at 6 am, and I don't want to get up any earlier than I have to. I also need to get to bed at a decent time, so I have to be as quick as possible. We have a 12.5 hour drive ahead of us, but with a toddler along we'll be lucky if we complete it in 14 hours. I detest driving in the dark, so we have to get an early start.
One thing I noticed this weekend is the huge difference between the grand kids on my side of the family and those on DH's side. This weekend was nice: no whining, no refusing to eat what's put in front of them, no demands for nuggets or corn dogs, no attitudes when you ask them to do something or stop doing something. Now, I'm not saying the grand kids on my side are angels, they're not, but they were fairly well behaved non-whiners. They were still rambunctious little kids, but it wasn't annoying: they weren't constantly fighting (there was disagreements over toys, but that's not on the same level as the fighting I've seen elsewhere) and they weren't talking back and blatantly disobeying parents/aunts and uncles/grandparents.
I now get to turn around and spend a few days with some (not all, thank goodness) of the grand kids on DH's side of the family. I know it won't be nearly as calm and worry-free (I always feel like I'm the only one actually watching the kiddoes to make sure they don't get hurt). Hopefully it won't be too bad.
In a side note, my massage certification arrived in the mail: I am now officially certified!
No comments:
Post a Comment