I’ll have them one at a time, thank you.
This past weekend, we got to cook our Thanksgiving dinner food at Phil and Yang-hee’s house. They have four cute kids, Elizabeth (5), Hannah (3), Sarah (3, yes, they’re identical twins), and Elijah (1). Since most of the cooking was done when we got there in the afternoon, we just spent time playing w/ the kids. On Sunday, I went over again in the afternoon to pick up some cooking utensils we left there. Phil was out buying groceries so I played with their kids for a little bit while Yang-hee cooked them dinner. We were having a good time but they started getting more and more irritable. They would do things to bother each other and one would start crying and her sisters wouldn’t do anything for her, just stand sit next to me and tell me she’s crying. Eventually dinner was ready so they all ran over to get dinner. Someone took someone else’s seat so one of them started crying again. While Yang-hee was trying to get them settled, I watched over Elijah who was supposed to be gnawing on his ravioli. Rather than nimbling on them w/ his four teeth, he decided to stuff all three in his mouth and force them in there when there wasn’t enough room. He started coughing, then choking, and crying. I patted him on the back to get him to cough it up while Yang-hee pulled them out of his mouth. While we’re preventing Elijah from choking on his raviolis, the girls were complaining about how they want dessert, and apple pie, and blueberry waffles and all these things. Yang-hee calmly tells them that Daddy’s bringing them home from the store and that they can have blueberry waffles tomorrow for breakfast. She instead distracts them with an offer for apple fries (sliced apples) which captures their attention. Eventually Phil comes home and I give him a hand w/ the groceries. Apparently the girls are now in a helpful mood and they help Phil put the groceries into the fridge. They finally get the OJ they’ve been asking for all dinner and once that’s down, they’re off to bed.
Sunday and Saturday were completely different experiences at their house. The girls were easy and fun to be with on Saturday. On Sunday they were cranky, irritable, fussy, and needy. I marveled at Yang-hee’s ability to placate them and manage to feed them dinner. Everyone was fed, changed, and in bed, and no one died. If I was left w/ all four of them, I wouldn’t know what to do. So many different needs, urgencies, and fires to attend, I’d lose my mind. I could handle one of them; just give me Elijah and I’d be alright (except for maybe the changing diapers part) or Elizabeth who can tell me what she wants. But all four at one time, that’s a feat. I definitely like kids and still think I’d like 3-4 but I’d like to have them one at time, if that’s ok with you God.