I babysat my two nephews over the weekend. Raising 2 kids was off getting speeding tickets with her husband so I agreed to stay behind and watch the chillen'. It was fun. I hadn't babysat the boys in a long time and when I heard raising 2 kids other option for childcare, I insisted on going over. I of course had my little miss with me, so I had my hands full, or I had what raising 2 kids has every day of her life. I must say I don't know how she does it!

Managing the needs of 3 children is an art. Between diaper changes and refilling glasses (or bottles) of water or milk, doesn't leave a lot of time for anything else. Her oldest wanted to put together a puzzle of the United States. He was so proud to show me the state where they make movies and the state where Disneyland is. He also wanted to take a bath in the sink like his little miss cousin did, but we never got to that and thankfully he was ok with it. I was afraid he'd remember when it came time for bed and then have a melt down, but he didn't and I was happy.

Her youngest has energy I've never seen in anyone or anything. It's limitless and quite exhausting, but he's definitely not beyond reason. A couple of times I had to bring out the authoritative, don't mess with me voice, to which the oldest begged me not to tell his mother. I promised I wouldn't though I don't know what he thought I was going to tell her or what would happen to him if I did.

When it was time for bed (around 9:30- an hour later than what I'm used to) we all headed upstairs to their bedroom. My oldest nephew insisted on sleeping on the floor because he was afraid of dragonflies in the next room or something (he's got a fear of bugs.) I didn't argue as I saw there was already a sleeping bag set up on the floor at the end of his bed- clearly an issue already in progress. So, he sets himself up on the floor while the youngest crawls into his bed. I put my little miss on the bed that's been vacated by her older cousin and I sit on the floor between the 2 twin beds. I've got one arm holding my daughter on the bed to my right and I'm holding the youngest nephew's hand with my left. The oldest is the first one to sleep. Then my little miss. Then my youngest nephew slowly drifts off to dreamland. I've done it! I've put 3 small children to bed- they've all survived and they're all peacefully sleeping. I did forget to have them brush their teeth (sorry) but really, the fact that they're in bed and alive is enough to make me feel satisfied with the babysitting job I'd done. I don't know if this how raising 2 kids feels at the end of the day. I think I'd feel more like I had survived them and was happy to be alive and I'd most likely have a serious drinking problem.